Princess of Nefura
by ArtisticTalents101
Summary: Arizona, a warrior fairy is on a quest to find her mother after she suddenly goes missing. During her journey she stumbles upon hidden secrets- and maybe love- and begins to realise that she may be the key to unraveling all the mysteries that surround her
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

_She flew as fast as she could, clutching the tiny bundle closely to her chest. She looked around frantically trying to remember the route to her friends place, and then she finally saw it. The house was situated behind a row of trees, nearly hidden from view. She started to fly towards the house, but her wings got caught on a branch. Pain burst through her shoulders as her wings were yanked back by the branch and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. She heard a soft whimpering noise coming from the bundle. She sighed, drew in her wings and dropped to the ground lightly on her feet. She sat down and tried to quieten the baby down. Eventually the little one stopped crying and she managed to walk over to the house. She placed the baby on the doorstep and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, she hastily scribbled a note. Her friend would understand, after all they _were_ best friends. She was doing her friend a favour. _

_She pinned the note to the bundle and straightened. She gazed at the baby. She looked deep into her beautiful green eyes with flecks of blue. Her eyes travelled across the baby's features; the blond fuzz on top of her head, her chubby cheeks and those soft pink lips. She felt her eyes sting, and she blinked a couple of times to stop the tears from spilling over. She allowed herself one last look at her baby, and then she turned and flew. _

CHAPTER 1

"ARIZONA! ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?" bellowed Ms LeProtuscio. I jumped and my head shot up, "uh yes Ms LeProtuscio." I lied. Ms LeProtuscio approached my desk, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at me, "Oh really? Well do you mind telling the rest of the class what we were just talking about? I blushed and laughed nervously, "Well …. You see... I'd rather prefer it if you told it…because, you know… you're a professional and everything …and…uh…umm. No.' I sighed, giving up. "I can't. "

I looked down and pretended to be remorseful. I saw Ms LeProtuscio rapidly shake her head in frustration, "Arizona! You have to really start paying attention in class! Every other Fairy in this class listens, except you! I don't know why you waste you're time like this! If this goes on any longer I'm going to have to call you're mother. I'm utterly serious this time Arizona." She gave me one last trademark death stare then walked away and resumed her class.

I made a face at her retreating back and stretched, feeling a little bit refreshed from my short nap. Peony, my best friend grinned at me, I returned the grin back, and tried to concentrate on what Ms LeProtuscio was saying.

The day went pretty quickly, and finally the last bell rang for the day. I grabbed my books and ran out, Peony following closely behind. As soon as escaped the confines of the school I breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Thank_ goodness _it's finished!"

Peony laughed at me, "Honestly Ari, You're _such _a rebel! Why can't you just pay attention for at least 5 minutes?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't see why I have to… I'm going to become the best Nefurite warrior there ever was! What does Maths have to do with being a warrior?"

Peony just shook her head and grabbed my arm, "You are _so _pathetic! Anyway, come with me, I have to tell you something _urgent_!"

I chuckled, "Okay! Relax, let's go!" I stretched out my wings and followed Peony We reached a small orchard where Peony and I used to go when we were kids. The orchard was like our own secret place; we would go deep into the rows of trees and sit under the shade where no one could see us, then we would tell each other our deepest and darkest secrets. I wondered what Peony had to tell me that would make her bring me to this place...

"Peony! What in the world is going on?" I asked, slightly amused by the way Peony _could not_ stop fidgeting. Peony giggled, and then sat in front of me. Her brown eyes were gleaming and she couldn't stop smiling, "Ari… You won't believe it…but…I'm engaged!"

I stared at Peony, my mouth gaping open. Peony's smile faltered, "Ari... you okay?"

I quickly slammed my mouth shut and tried to school my features, "I'm fine, Peony that's great! Wow… I just wasn't expecting it…wow… so umm who's the lucky guy?"

Peony grinned, "Jake Tophee."

I forced a smile, "Wow…Jake! Who would've thought? You guys are…a perfect match!"

Jake Tophee was a nerdy kid who always had a small crush on Peony. He was smart and sweet, and didn't look too bad. I guess Peony must've finally realised that he was the man of her dreams and decided to marry him.

Peony grinned and laughed, "I know! I'm really happy, I thought that I would never get engaged…but, well…I guess I was wrong! And Jake is so, so nice! You won't believe what he did the other day …" She babbled on some more but I wasn't listening. All that was going through my mind was _Peony's engaged….and I'm not…._

Eventually Peony went home and I stayed behind, sitting under the tree lost in my own thoughts. I pulled out a mirror from my bag and peered at my reflection. I took in my long blond hair streaked wit red. My front fringe was growing long and was falling in my eyes; I had to cut it soon. I took out my lip gloss and smeared it over my lips. I glanced at the tattoo beside my eyes; the red, spirals shimmered in the light from the sun. It made my eyes look greener than they were. I had to admit, I looked pretty good.

I sighed; Peony wasn't anywhere near as good looking as me. She had mousy brown hair that was neither straight, nor curly. She was chubby and short, her eyes were a dull brown and had dull green diamonds tattooed around her face and in spite of that, she still managed to get engaged before I did. It was shameful.

It wasn't uncommon for fairy's to get engaged at a very young age, normally it was around seventeen to nineteen, and then they would marry at twenty three. I was turning eighteen in a few short months. Usually after the fairy got married, he or she would then pursue the career that they want to go in, and in my case, a warrior. Peony wanted to be a nurse. I chuckled quietly to myself; Peony was the sweetest, kindest, most caring fairy I had ever met in my entire life. She wasn't that pretty, but what she lacked in looks, she made up with her personality. She was just the right person to be a nurse.

I shook my head and stood up. If I kept brooding over this, I would be late for my training. I pushed out my wings; they were a sparkly silver and red, with hints of shiny green. My mother always told me that the colour and shape of your wings illustrated your personality, though mine was weird. Although Silver or gold usually meant 'royal' or 'supreme', I had no connection with royalty whatsoever, except for the princess, who was a good friend. The red meant that I was short tempered, and that there was fire burning within me. The green meant that there was a soft side hidden in me but rarely showed up because the temper and dominance usually over-powered it.

The sun beat down on my wings making them sparkle and shimmer more than ever, and than I leapt into the air.

Ever since I turned 16, I had made up my mind to be a warrior and everyone else could see that it was the best choice for me, I had the courage to stand up and fight however at times; my courage got me into a whole lot of trouble. I had strength, and very quick reflexes. I was born a warrior. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about my study skills. I sucked at studies to put it nicely. I grinned as my thoughts drifted to Ms LeProtuscio. She was a nice teacher…she just didn't like me much.

I reached the palace and dropped to the ground, I saw Princess Akira sitting outside with a man I hadn't seen before. She turned and saw me, "Ari! Hey!" she ran up to me gracefully and grinned. I bowed before her, "Good afternoon your highness."

She laughed and nodded her head in acknowledgement. I straightened and grinned, "Someone's happy today! What happened?"

Akira threw her head back and laughed, her golden wavy hair shining in the light. "Was it _that_ obvious?"

I nodded slowly, a bit lost as to what was going on, and she laughed some more. The man I saw before came and stood beside her, she put her arm around him. "Ari, I'm engaged. This is my fiancé, Marcus. Marcus meet Arizona, she's a good friend of mine."

Marcus stuck his hand out, and I shook it. My mind was whirling, _was this some kind of joke?_ Both my friends were engaged _on the same day_ and I was still single. I shook my head and tried to feel happy for Akira, but instead I felt strange, unhappy and slightly angry. I couldn't believe it, but, I was actually jealous of my friends.

"Arizona?"

I realised that Marcus had been speaking to me, and I wasn't even listening. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and turned to him. I inwardly gasped, I had been too busy being shocked at Akira's 'surprise announcement' that I hadn't really taken a good look at Marcus. He was tall; with straight brown hair streaked with blond, he had striking icy blue eyes, and a slight tan. His arms were rippled with hard muscles and his wings were silver, with sparkly blue and gold lightning bolts. He was a royal. A very attractive royal.

"Ye-yes? Uh …I'm uh… so sorry. I was just...uh…just…umm...distracted…" I laughed nervously.

Marcus grinned, showing a row of pearly white teeth. "Don't worry about it. So, why are you here?"

"Umm…I have special trainings with Sir Ramon."

Marcus looked impressed, "Sir Ramon? As in the 'Sir Ramon' who's the Master Warrior of this palace? Why?

I shrugged, "I want to be a warrior soon and so I'm getting special training from him. Hopefully, one day I might be able to work in the palace…"

Marcus smiled again, and my heart seemed to flip. Akira then stood on her toes and kissed Marcus on the cheek, and at once my heart went back to a normal pace. I looked at Akira, her face was glowing with love for Marcus and I knew I had to stop this stupid crush. My goal was to be the greatest warrior there ever was and I couldn't let these trivial things distract me.

I flew towards Sir Ramon's training room. He was lying down on a mat, his salt and pepper hair was growing long and I made a mental note to remind him to trim it. He looked up when I came in. "Hello Arizona. Are you prepared for your training? Remember, you must be both mentally and physically prepared for –"

"..For training, because you never know in what way the enemy may attack…bla bla... Yes I know. I've heard it a thousand times!" I grumbled,

Sir Ramon chuckled, "Just reminding you Arizona, now come. Let's start with fifty push ups."

I groaned and dropped down and started doing my push ups. Meanwhile Sir Ramon started to make a magical ball; it was Orange and Black – the colour of his wings. It was part of my training; Sir Ramon made a ball which would zoom around the room at rapid speed. My job was to shoot it.

Finally, I completed my push ups and stood up panting; I rubbed my aching arms and looked up at Sir Ramon, "happy?"

He grinned and with a flick of his hand, the ball flew to me at rapid speed. I didn't have time to shoot at the ball, and ducked. The ball flew above my head and stopped a few feet away. I saw Sir Ramon frown at me and shake his head. He took a couple of steps closer to me, "Arizona, remember, if an enemy comes at you with no warning whatsoever, you can't just 'duck.' You need to be prepared, let's do this again..."

I got into my position and waited for the ball to move, the ball flew towards me again, but this time I was ready. I thrust my hand forward, and immediately a bolt of red shot out of my hand and hit the ball. The ball vanished.

Then suddenly something hit me from behind and I fell. I winced and sat up, my nose was bleeding. White sparkly blood oozed out from my nose, I curled my lips in disgust. Sir Ramon flew over to me, "Arizona, are you okay?" He looked concerned.

I scolded myself inwardly; this was the Twentieth time that the ball had hit me from behind, I just kept forgetting. "I'm sorry…"

Sir Ramon just shook his head, "I'm not going to say that I am not disappointed in you, you know better. But, don't worry, everyone makes mistakes."

I shrugged, and got up. He looked quizzically at me and the ball, "You want to do more of this? Or you ready for something else?"

I grimaced, "something else."

Sir Ramon smiled and nodded his head once, and almost immediately a rush of orange magic surged out, and I ducked… again. I scrambled to my feet, and thrust a bolt of red at Sir Ramon. He counteracted the magic, with a rush of orange. I pushed my hands forward, trying to fight his much stronger magic. I felt beads of sweat break out on my forehead, but I kept pushing. My feet started to slide backwards, and I knew I was totally losing this mini war.

Finally I gave up and collapsed on the floor. Sir Ramon sat down and gave a weary smile, "Great way to redeem yourself, Ari," he said, using my nickname, "You fought well. Next time … avoid the ducking."

I grinned and slowly got up, my hands and nose seriously sore. I gently felt my bruised nose and groaned. I looked at Sir, he was suppressing a smile. I glared at him and stretched, immediately wishing I hadn't, my muscles ached! He chuckled, "You can take a break Arizona, and I'll see you tomorrow"

I nodded, my pride too wounded to talk, and flew towards the courtyard and sat there nursing my sore nose. Finally I got up and went in search for Akira. I loved talking to her; she always seemed to find something good in every little thing. She was great for when I had a rainy day, and having another look at Marcus wouldn't hurt…not that I was going to Akira just so I could see Marcus…I mean, I didn't even like Marcus in _that way_…_and_ he was Akira's, so he was untouchable… and I'd rather prefer talking to Akira than Marcus…I didn't even know Marcus … he was boring.

I mentally scolded myself,_ Honestly Ari; you're acting like an 11 year old… Grow up! _I flew around the courtyard, but couldn't find Akira anywhere. Instead I found Marianne, The Queen. I flew towards her, trying hard not to admit to myself that I was a bit disappointed that Akira wasn't there. She turned and smiled. I bowed down low before her once then stood up, "Your Majesty,"

"Arizona, My Dear. How are you?"

I smiled, "I'm fine you're Royal Highness and how about you? I trust that you're keeping well?"

She smiled and nodded, "Have you finished your training with Sir Ramon?"

I nodded slowly, "Yes…"

The Queen smiled "How was your lesson?"

I sighed, "It was pretty great actually. I got hit with the ball at training, my nose started to bleed, I've bruised all the muscles in my body and Sir Ramon laughed at me. Honestly, I haven't had a better day …'

She shook her head in mock disappointment and then hugged me, "You are so special, Dear Arizona. I hope you know that."

I laughed and bowed, "Yes your majesty, I guess do. If you'll please excuse me, I think I might go home."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

I came home and opened the door quietly, I saw my mother grinding some leaves together – probably some medicine she was concocting. I crept up behind her... "BOO!" My mother jumped, "_Ari! Did you _have _to do that? _

I laughed and hugged her; she smacked me across the head and then reluctantly returned my smile. She put her hair behind her ears, and resumed working on her herbs. Once again I was struck by the difference in looks between me and my mother, while I was blond with green eyes; she had curly black hair and brown eyes. I was tall and slender, she was short and thin, my lips were plump and I had high cheekbones while she had small lips and delicate features. The truth was inevitable; I looked nothing like my mother.

I was always told that I looked like my father, but I never got the chance to meet him. He died before I was born and my mother, in grief, threw out all the pictures she ever had of him.

"What are you thinking?"

I blinked, my mother raised her eyebrows. "Nothing … I was just thinking about how I look nothing like you..."

Something flickered in my mothers eyes and she hesitated a moment before saying, "Sweetie, You know you got your fathers good looks"

I shrugged, "Yes … you told me- a million times, but you'd think that me being your only daughter, I would at least look a _tiny_ bit like you…"

My mother smiled, "Of course you do… you can't really see it because I'm getting older, and you're becoming prettier! _Which_ reminds me, I was talking to a friend of mine and she's got a son that would be just right for you!"

I stared at my mother; she was purposely changing the subject, something she did _every time _I mentioned the difference between her looks and mine, or if I mentioned something about father. I rolled my eyes and flew to my room. I heard my mother calling me, but I chose to ignore it. My mother was hiding something from me, it was obvious! But what she was hiding … that I didn't know.

I lay down on my bed and looked at the ceiling. There were pictures of me during my lifetime that my mother had stuck on it. There were pictures of me when I was a baby, when I was a toddler and when I was an adolescent. I hadn't taken any pictures of me lately, or if I had, I hadn't put it up. None of the pictures had my father in it.

I sighed, and rolled over. I looked towards my bedside table and saw my treasure chest under some exam papers. I grabbed the small wooden box and sat up. I opened it and pulled out a necklace that my father had given me. It was half a diamond and it was very old. The necklace had some sort of intricate design all around it and a picture of a fairy with a crown engraved into the diamond. I put the necklace on and it shimmered as it touched my neck. I sat there, feeling the way the cold pendent sat on my warm neck.

I looked back down into the treasure chest; the necklace was all that my father had given me. I never wore it, for fear that I might lose it during training or at school, but now it made me feel closer to my father than ever before. I put away the box and lay back down on my bed, and surely enough, I felt my eyelids close and I fell into a deep sleep.

The next day my alarm clock didn't ring, and I woke up late. I swore as I tripped over my shoes laces while trying to button up my shirt at the same time. Finally I flew as fast as I could out the door and into school. I dashed into class just as Ms LeProtuscio began to mark the roll. She glanced up, gave me a withering look but didn't make a fuss about me being tardy.

I sat down next to Peony; she raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. I closed my eyes for a minute than opened them, wishing I was anywhere but here.

After school Peony came to me, "Ari, What's wrong?"

I looked up at her and sighed, "Aw…it's nothing …"

Peony just looked at me, I sighed again, I couldn't hide anything from Peony, we were friends from birth, and we knew every little thing about each other. I looked up at her, "She's doing it again."

Peony looked confused for a minute, and then she understood, "Your mother? Aw… Ari, try and understand, your mother finds it hard to talk about your father and there's nothing wrong with that. You have got to stop being so impatient!"

I glared at her, "Is it wrong to ask about my father that_ I have no idea about? _ He's my father! _My_ father! I have a right to know who he is! But my own mother won't tell me anything about him, don't you think that there's a pretty good reason to be impatient?"

Peony sighed, and her face softened but I didn't wait. I pushed out my wings and flew away, it seemed to me like everyone was against me, and no one really understood me. My mother was hiding secrets from me, Peony was backing my mother up and Akira probably wouldn't even _want_ to understand, she had her own little pretty life, her pretty little fiancé and her own pretty little duties.

I shook my head, it was wrong blaming Akira and Peony but I felt so alone right now.

I stared at the necklace with the half diamond; I had decided to wear it to school. I rubbed it, and it shimmered. I took it off and looked more closely at the design on the back. Woven in between the intricate leaves and flowers were letters. I peered at the design trying to distinguish the letters, but they were too small. I looked at the pendent in confusion; pendants don't normally have letters engraved on them, unless of course the owner was extremely rich. Was my father a rich man? I had to find out.

Instead of going home, I flew all the way to the city centre and reached an antique jewellery shop. I drew in my wings and walked inside. A bell gave a little jingle as I entered the doorway, and sitting behind a small desk was an old man with mustard yellow and brown wings that were frail and a little bit battered. I walked up to him and placed my pendant on the desk. "Excuse me, I was just wondering how much this pendant is worth…" I trailed off; the man had picked up my pendant and was looking intently at the back. His eyes widened, and I figured he must've seen the letters.

"Where did you get this from, madam?" He had a thick Russian accent.

I shrugged, "My father gave it to my m other, to give it to me, before he died. Why?"

The man's eyes seemed to widen even more and he bowed his head slightly "Madam, may I ask who your father is?"

I frowned, "I don't really know … he died before I was born … what's this have to do with how much the necklace is worth?"

The man hesitated as he turned the pendant around in his hands. Finally he looked up, "Well ... ma'am. This necklace belongs to a member of the royal family."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I stared at the old man, "you are so kidding me right."

The man exhaled noisily, "No Ma'am I'm not kidding. Jokes aren't really my speciality."

I shook my head, "You must have gotten it wrong, and my father was not a member of the royal family! He couldn't be …"

The old man looked down at the pendant again, "Ma'am, if you are not a member of the royal family, the only reason for you have this necklace in your possession, would be that your father was a thief. Unless of course, you're lying about your father, and you ma'am, are the thief instead."

My mouth dropped, "_Excuse me…_ Are you accusing my family of _theft?_"

The man shrugged, "I'm just saying… Ma'am, you have to understand, this necklace is very rare. Only the royal family have it. It is said that the letters on the necklace represent some code to something, that no one knows what. A true member of the royal family is needed to decode the message."

I glanced at the necklace, "Why do we only need a royal member to decode the message?"

The man sighed, "Ma'am, history of the royal family is, once again, not my speciality. If you are really interested in this matter, I suggest you go the library."

I rolled my eyes, "so how much is this worth anyway?" I enquired gesturing towards the necklace.

The old man laughed out loud. "Madam, This necklace is priceless!"

I sighed and took my necklace back. I wasn't going to get anymore information from this man. I grimaced -not that he gave me much information in the first place.

I walked out of the shop, utterly disappointed at not getting the results I was hoping for. All I found out was that my father could have been a thief, and had stolen a necklace that was 'priceless' and belonged to the royal family, maybe my only option was to go to the library and search for answers there.

I groaned, the library was the last place in the entire fairy realm that I wanted to go to. I didn't even _like_ books! I scowled inwardly, the _sacrifices _I had to go through just to find information on the stupid necklace.

I was contemplating whether to go home, or go an extra hour early for Sir Ramon's trainings when I heard a noise. I turned around, but there was no one there. I resumed walking when I heard the noise again. I walked towards the noise and found that it was coming from a bush. I squinted at the bush, hoping it wasn't some dark creature that was going to jump out and kill me. Suddenly a pair of turquoise eyes appeared in the bush. I gasped and stumbled back. I looked back at the bush, and saw a figure hurrying away. I stared at the bush for a couple of minutes and then slowly turned to go home, all the while wondering who the person behind the bush was, and how they had gotten such beautiful eyes.

I reached home, and slowly opened the door. It was pretty late, and my mother had already gone to bed. I exhaled; I hadn't said a word to my mother since the episode yesterday, where she wouldn't tell me about my father. I was about to go up to my mother room and say goodnight, but then I thought of how she was hiding something from me and decided to skip saying goodnight and go straight to bed.

The next day, I didn't feel like going to school and went straight to the Palace- I wanted to tell Akira about the person behind the bush whose eyes haunted me day and night. They were gorgeous - a sparkly turquoise colour. I had never seen eyes like them before and I was desperate to know who owned them. I reached the Palace gates and waited for the Royal guards to let me in. One of the guards, named Trevin came to the gate. Trevin- unlike the rest of the guards- was friendly and didn't mind stopping to chat during his shifts. He had sandy blond hair and clear blue eyes. He came right up to the bars of the gate and stood directly in front of me. "Arizona, what are you doing here."

I raised my eyebrows, "Hi to you Trevin …"

Trevin didn't smile. "What are you doing here…?"

"What do you mean? I always come here…"

Trevin sighed "Arizona. I mean, what are you doing at the palace at this time? You're supposed to be at school…"

I groaned, "_Come on_ Trevin… I just want to see Akira; I'm not going to die if I miss a day of school…"

Trevin clenched his jaw, "Arizona, I really don't know if I should let you in … you're education is far more important than a girly talk…"

My mouth dropped "Trevin! Please! What's gotten into you? You're never like this!"

Trevin's eyes flickered, "Arizona, just because we work or live in the palace, doesn't mean that we have no care for our people. By letting you skip classes, by encouraging you to not take your studies seriously … what are we implying? That education isn't that important for Nefurites? That we don't mind having uneducated subjects in our tribe? No! Of course not! Arizona, your education is _so_ important … and I don't understand why you can't see Princess Akira after school."

I shook my head, "Trevin … I just want to talk to Akira about something important. Please…"

Trevin frowned, "Arizona... What I'm trying to say is-"

"You know what? Just forget it. I'm going." I ran my hand through my hair, and turned around. I heard Trevin sigh behind me, and I started to walk. Why did it feel like everyone was against me? I heard Trevin open the gate, and jog up to me. He grabbed hold my hand and turned me around, "Okay fine … You can go see the Princess, all right? You happy now?"

"What happened to 'your education is_ sooo _much more important_?"_

Trevin smiled, "Your education _is_ important, but … I'd hate to see a friend of mine angry at me."

I grinned and went in the palace with Trevin in tow.

I walked briskly to the garden and saw Akira sitting on a bench practising her magic. I raced up to her and hugged her from behind. Akira squealed and turned around. "Ari! Hey! You won't believe what has happened! I can finally make my fire ball change into the shape of a rose!"

Akira showed me the fire ball, and as it was in the air, the ball slowly started to morph into the shape of a rose. I blinked, "Akira … that's really cool … wow…How did you do that?"

Akira laughed "I had to take defence classes, and goodness me, I hated it! So after I learnt how to create a fireball, I went off and tried to turn it into something pretty! So, I guess Defence classes will be a little bit better now …"

I laughed, "Honestly Akira, you are the only one who would think of an idea like that… anyway; I wanted to tell you something really important!"

Akira smiled at me in confusion, "… what is it?"

I looked around, "can we talk somewhere private?"

At that moment, Marcus came running up to Akira, "Princess, do you want to practice our Flutterwing performance?" He turned and seemed to suddenly notice I was there, "Oh, hey Arizona…"

I smiled nervously at his gaze, and even though he turned away and didn't look at me any longer than he would look at a friend, I still felt my face heat up. I shook my head and tried to focus on what they were saying. Flutterwing dances were the traditional Fairy dances. The steps were fairly easy for ordinary people, but for the Royals, they had to learn a whole heap of complicated, intricate steps. The Royals were usually the first to begin the dance, and the rest of the fairy's then slowly joined in, dancing around the royals.

I looked back at Akira, "Akira … but I really have to talk to you…"

Akira smiled at me apologetically, "I'm sorry Ari, I really have to practice…Marcus and me are horribly bad at it! Maybe next time."

I stared at Akira, I couldn't believe she was blowing me off, and that too for _Marcus_. I felt my eyes prickling and I turned and walked away. I felt angry that she was blowing me off, upset that Akira didn't care for me as much as she cared for Marcus, Jealous that _she_ got to dance with Marcus and not me… I felt so confused.

I heard Akira calling after me, but I just kept on going. I reached the palace gates and saw Trevin. He looked utterly confused that I was leaving so fast _and_ that I looked like I was on the verge of crying. "Arizona! Hey … what's wrong?"

I shook my head and pushed my wings out and flew away.

I didn't really know where I was going, but I really needed to get away from the palace. My necklace dangled from my neck and I suddenly remembered that I needed to go to the library to do some research. I groaned as I thought of all the books that I would have to read, and tried to comfort myself by letting in thoughts of my father. If I found out more information on the necklace, then maybe I'd be a step closer to finding out whom my father really was. I thought of what the shop keeper said, was my father really a thief? Was that why my mother didn't talk about him? I saw the library in the distance and flew faster.

As I walked into the library, I looked around me. This was the first time I had been in a library _willingly_. It was huge, and was filled with books. I saw fairies sitting and reading, some studying and doing work, some just relaxing and reading a newspaper. There were fairies on the computers, and fairies reclining on cushions. I went up to the counter and saw the Librarian talking to another lady. The Librarian looked about 50 or 60, and had white hair and crinkly skin but she had soft blue eyes and nice smile. The lady finished her conversation and approached me, "Hi there Deary, Sorry about that, my names Janine. Melanie and I have a lovely time talking about the most random things! If you thought that was long, you should've heard me talk to her last week! We were talking about what a state the Louveele Gardens were! Goodness gracious me! They were horrible! With all that litter! It's unfathomable as to why _no one_ will clean it up! But oh, we did have a good chat over a spot of tea. Now … Oh deary me! There I go! Talking again! Did you need any help dear?"

I blinked at the lady, she talked like her life depended on it … I cleared my throat, "Umm... Yes. I do. I was wondering… if you had any books on the history of the Royal family."

Janine nodded her head thoughtfully, "yes dearest, I'm pretty sure that we have some books on the Royal family, was there anything in particular that you were looking for?"

"What do you mean?"

Janine smiled at me, "Is there anything specific that you were looking for in the history of the Royal family? Like, the first Queen? Or… The Flutterwing Origins, now that's a common one! Hmm?"

I bit my lip, "Actually, I'm trying to find information on a particular necklace that the Royals own?"

Janine looked thoughtful, "Give me more information dear"

"Um, this necklace is a key to some code or something… It belongs to the royal family, I'm sorry. That's all I know."

Janine smiled again, "Dear, that's fine. I'll see if I can find some books on necklaces that belong or are related to the Royal family, okay? By the way, did anyone ever tell you that you are absolutely beautiful? Honestly, you are a complete beauty!" She covered her mouth and laughed politely. "I'm going to get your books okay dear?"

I smiled and nodded.

Janine directed me to a blue couch near a window and told me to wait there while she tried to find the books for me. I gazed out the window, Peony would be furious that I wasn't in school today. So would Ms LeProtuscio, this was probably the first time I had missed school in my entire life. Even though I hated it, I had never missed a day…my mother would've never let me. I wondered if they would call my mother, she would flip. I thought about what Akira would probably think of me… I acted totally childish when I stormed off like that and Marcus would probably think that I'm a little cry baby. I rubbed my face with my hands, ugh. How embarrassing.

"Dear! I got your books for you!"

I jumped as Janine came out of nowhere with a pile of books. I grimaced as she dropped them on my lap and dusted her hands. "There you are dear, hope you find what you're looking for! Really dear, aren't you gorgeous! And what a sad face! A pretty girl like you shouldn't have a sad face! Ah … I remember the olden days when I was a spunky young girl! I had all the boys after me!" Janine chuckled and looked dreamily out the window, "But would you look at me now, I look like a withered old prune!" Janine chuckled again and then left. I smiled at her retreating back; I was starting too really like Janine- even though she talked too much. She seemed like the closet person I had at this moment. I sighed, I knew I was over reacting by a mile, just because Peony stood up for my mother I was angry at her, and just because Akira wanted to spend more time with Marcus than with me, I was angry with her too. I really had to go apologize to them but as for now, I had a whole lot of books to read.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After rummaging through the pile of books for nearly an hour and still getting no answers, I was on the verge of leaving. Finally a small book caught my eye, it was fairly old and worn out. I picked it up and looked at the cover; the title said '_Northern Kingdoms- Nefura Royal Treasures_'. I opened the book and a cloud of dust came out. I sneezed and glanced at the book, it looked like no one had opened this book in a long time.

I found the contents page and skimmed through it till I found a chapter titled '_The Zjakurah Necklace- History and Significance' _I opened the chapter and started reading it. The chapter was short- not exceeding 4 pages and had a picture of my necklace, except it was a whole diamond not a half like mine. I continued reading till a paragraph stopped me, it said;

'_The Zjakurah Necklace is handed down from one royal member to the other. It is said that no fairy apart from the Royal members have ever laid eyes on the Zjakurah Necklace. Legend states that the Zjakurah Necklace contains a code to the whereabouts of the Aetheanites, a lost tribe of the olden days. The Zjakurah Necklace is rare, and only one necklace exists in one tribe. The Zjakurah Necklace is made up of magnesium with silver …'_

I stopped reading. I was shocked; I had absolutely no idea about the 'Aetheanites'. All I knew was that there were two tribes. The Nefurites and the Wixurites. Since I was young I had been taught that the Nefurites were the good tribe and the Wixurites were the bad tribe. Fairy's belonging to Wixur dabbled in dark magic that was extremely powerful and dangerous. Nefurites never crossed the line that led to the place where the Wixurites were located in and they never crossed ours.

I put the book down, stretched then automatically winced. My body was still sore after Sir Ramon's training and I was starving. I thought of going back home, but then decided against it. There could be a chance that my mother was still home and not only did I not want her to know I was missing school, I also didn't want to have a one on one conversation with her. I looked around, and thought of the market place. I pulled out a few coins from my pocket, there was just enough for me to buy something to eat so I put the books in a neat pile, went to the counter and said goodbye to Janine then left.

The market place was busy like usual and the smell of fresh bread and herb cakes were overwhelming. I took a deep breath and walked around, savouring the delicious, warm aromas. There were many food stalls and I approached the closest one near me. It was an _Organic Vegetable meal _stall and the aromas that came out of the stall nearly made me drool. I stood in line and waited.

"Arizona! Arizona!" I spun around at the call of my name, but there was no one there. My heart pounded as I thought of what my mother would say when someone told her that I missed school. Oh, she would be furious. I crossed my fingers and hoped with all my heart that it wasn't someone that knew me and my mother. I searched the crowds anxiously, trying to locate where the person was. Maybe if the person wasn't too close, I'd be able to fly off quickly. Suddenly I saw a hand pop out from crowd and wave frantically. I stared at the hand that was coming nearer and nearer, _'what the hell…'_ and out of nowhere Peony burst out of the crowd, huffing and puffing like her life depended on it.

"Oh my _goodness_!' she paused to take a breath. 'Arizona … Ari…' she paused again and then abruptly looked up at me as if she had just noticed me. "ARIZONA. WHERE IN THE WORLD WERE YOU AT SCHOOL TODAY? I WAS WAITING FOR YOU FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG AND YOU JUST DECIDE NOT TO SHOW UP HUH? YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE AS TO WHY YOU WEREN'T AT SCHOOL OR ELSE –"

"Peony! Honestly, relax… yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't at school today but-"

"BUT WHAT. HUH? BUT WHAT. YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY NOT SICK! YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY NOT INJURED, YOU KNOW WHATS FUNNY? YOU LOOK PERFECTLY FINE TO ME! SO WHY- "

"Peony! SHUTUP!" I looked around and noticed a few people glancing in our direction. I reluctantly turned my face back to Peony who was glaring at me. "Look, you're right, I don't really have an excuse okay … I just wanted to go check out some stuff …"

Peony crossed her arms, "What stuff."

"Peony! It's just stuff! Personal stuff!" I laughed nervously, but Peony didn't laugh back.

"Ari, I've known you since we were born, and you have never kept anything from me- whether it was personal or not. What's wrong? I swear Ari; you've been acting so weird lately…"

I looked at Peony, "Peony. I'm fine. You don't have to know everything … you're not my mother, okay?"

Peony rolled her eyes, "Whatever. If you don't trust me enough …."

I groaned, "Peony it's not that … … Look, what I'm just trying to say is-"

Peony grinned and put her hands up in a mock surrender, "Okay! Don't get your panties in a bunch! I'll be here, so whenever you're ready to tell me, you know where to find me okay? Anyway, _moving on_, I got something exciting to tell you!"

I tried to think of what Peony might want to tell me … but came up with no results. "Yeah? What?"

Peony bounced on her feet, "You won't believe it! You know Princess Akira? She's got a fiancé! And they're having their engagement ball in a couple of days! Apparently the guy is _gorgeous_! Hey, Ari, you sometimes go to the Palace for trainings, have you ever seen the Prince?"

I grinned, "Yes…"

Peony squealed, "Are you serious! Tell me, how does he look? Does he look as gorgeous as everyone says he is?"

I laughed, "Yes and yes. He's looks really good!"

Peony giggled, "Ari … I'm starting to think you have a little crush on him no?"

I smacked Peony on her arm, "NO! Of course not!"

Peony laughed, "Ah, don't worry Ari. I was just kidding; of course you don't like him…duh! He's engaged _and_ he's a Prince. Ow… you really hit hard…"

I looked down; I didn't really like Marcus… did I? Of course I didn't … but why did my heart pound like crazy whenever he came near me? I sighed, and then suddenly remembered that I had to apologize to Peony. I really shouldn't have gotten angry at her the other day. I stopped and looked at Peony. I took a deep breath, "Peony, I'm sorry. Really. I am."

Peony looked at me in utter confusion, "Umm… That's okay Ari… I mean it didn't really hurt that much…"

"What …?"

Peony looked even more confused, "… your smack. You smacked me… it didn't hurt that much … you don't need to apologize… I was just kidding- kind of- when I said you hit hard…"

I laughed, "No! Peony! I'm not apologizing for that! I mean, yeah, I'm sorry for hitting you as well but right now I'm apologizing for getting angry at you the other day! Remember? When I was telling you about how my mother was changing the subject again?"

Peony's eyes widened and then she laughed too, "Aw… that's okay Ari. I totally forget about it! So, how are you and your mother lately?"

I exhaled noisily, "I haven't really talked to her since that day…"

I saw Peony shake her head, "Ari… I'm not going to say you're doing the right thing, but you know what? You're a smart girl, and I know you'll make the right decisions. Just remember… she's your mother. Not some family friend or relative, she's your very own mother and you can never ever be angry at her for too long."

I nodded, and Peony smiled, "Hey look, I have to go meet Jake. So I'll see you later all right?"

I nodded and hugged her. "Yeah sure Peony… bye." Peony grinned and pushed out her wings and flew off. I stared at her, and smiled to myself. I was so grateful to have a friend like Peony, who would forgive me so easily even after I was so mean to her.

I looked back at the food stall and groaned, there was a massive queue lining in front of the counter. I rubbed my face and looked around, I could probably go home now since school had finished but unfortunately I had no books to carry with me. If I came home without any books my mother would certainly suspect something, she may be have been hiding something from me but she sure wasn't stupid.

I was contemplating whether or not to go to a friend's house and borrow some books- pretending they were mine- when I heard someone else call out my name. This time it was a male. My heart stopped as I thought of Trevin, had he come to tell me off? Had my mother found out? Was Akira furious at me? My palms started sweating as a figure wearing a long black cloak-like jacket and a low hat briskly walked up to me. The man grabbed my hand and pulled me into an isolated place. As soon as everyone was out of sight I wrenched my hands away from him. "Who are you?" The man didn't say anything but clasped his hand on my mouth and looked left and right as if expecting anyone to come at any moment. I quickly tried thinking up all my reflex defence skills and was just about to conjure a fire ball when he hurriedly dropped his hand and took of his hat. "Sorry Arizona, I couldn't risk anyone recognizing me." My mouth dropped as Prince Marcus took a step back and smiled apologetically.

"You're Highness? Why… What … How… What are you doing here?" I stammered. Marcus shrugged, "Arizona, I wanted to offer my apologies. I knew that you and Princess Akira were having a very important talk and I quite rudely interrupted and didn't even make a conscious attempt to undo what I had just done. Instead I took her highness away from you. So I apologize, I pray, please accept."

I realised that my mouth was hanging open and I snapped it shut. "Umm... It's all good. I … uh…wasn't expecting you to apologize to me, but umm... Thanks anyway. It wasn't really something to apologize for …In fact, I should be the one apologizing sir, I behaved quite childishly- and rudely- when I walked off without even saying goodbye"

Marcus shook his head rapidly, "No, no, don't apologize, It was me. What I did was extremely rude."

I just nodded my head like an idiot.

Marcus frowned for a moment- deep in thought, and then looked up. "Arizona. I know we haven't gotten off to a 'great start' but honestly, I would really appreciate getting to know my future wife's best friend. How about if we wiped the slate clean and start afresh?"

I was about to nod- like an idiot-again, but I quickly stopped and forced myself to say something civilised. "Sure your highness, umm…that would be a great idea… … and privilege." I finished of lamely.

Marcus grinned, "Just call me Marcus. So… tell me a bit about yourself Arizona, how do you know the Princess so well?"

I thought back to how Akira and I first met. "It was ages ago, when we both were small. My Mother used to take special herbs and medicines for the Queen and His Majesty, the King. While she was in the palace, I used to roam around the courtyards and sometimes if Sir Ramon allowed me, I would sit and watch him train the soldiers and young warriors of the palace. I think that's what influenced me to become a Warrior… something about the way they moved, graceful yet so intimidating… how they were so dangerously beautiful. I was fascinated by them.' I thought back to the days when Sir Ramon made me sit and learn how to create sparks in different colours. I remembered how at first I hated him because he wouldn't accept anything less then perfection, but as I grew up I realised how much his constant pestering and hounding me had made me into a warrior that could- or tried to- take on anything and anyone.

"You really do have a passion for this Warrior business huh?" Marcus asked softly. My mind snapped back to reality as I realised that I was day dreaming again.

"Sorry, yeah I do. Umm, back to what I was saying about how Akira and I met, uh… where was I …. Oh yeah. So I used to walk around the courtyards and at one point I saw Akira. At first I didn't know she was the princess, I mean seriously… how could I? I was around about … 5 years old? And she must've been 3 or 4. We were both really young, and to me Akira was just a buddy that I could play with. Well, that's how Akira and I grew close- we kept seeing each other so often. The Queen didn't really mind it and I suppose the King didn't mind it much either, if I did, he didn't mention anything." I paused then blushed, "Sorry your High- umm… 'Marcus', I've been talking so much!"

Marcus laughed, "No, no, don't worry. It's interesting!

Marcus was just about to ask another question when we heard this big commotion in the Marketplace. Marcus and I glanced at each other then sprinted towards the throngs of people.

"What's going on?" I shouted, Marcus just shook his head and shrugged, "Someone must've stolen something I guess,"

There was a bunch of people surround something or someone, shouting and screaming at the top of their lungs. I approached a women that was standing near the ring of people and pulled her aside, "What's happening!" I asked her. She let loose a string of cuss words, spat on the ground and then looked at me, "A Wixurite! On Nefurite land!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"WHAT!" I cried, "Are you sure?"

The women glared at me, "You think I'm lying? Hah? That bloody creature is making our land filthy! I say we kill it! Kill it!" she threw her hands in the air and ran to the crowd surrounding the Wixurite like a maniac. I heard someone shuffle behind me and found Marcus standing behind me, his hat bag on covering most of his face and his mouth set in a grim line.

"Did you hear what she said?" I asked him, Marcus just clenched his jaw and nodded.

Everywhere around me people were gathering around the Wixurite like a crazed mob and I pushed through the crowds in order to see the Wixurite. Just as I pushed the last person out of the way, I caught a glimpse of the Wixurite and yelped. "OH! ... It's… it's… OH MY GOODNESS ME! IT'S YOU!" There lying on the ground, bruised and beaten was the person that was staring at me from behind the bush, the _girl_ that owned the pair of gorgeous turquoise eyes.

In her hands was a loaf of bread and she was curled up in a foetal position on the ground, trying to protect herself from the mad crowd that were now hurling stones at her. I stared at her, completely taken aback. This was the first time I had ever seen a Wixurite, and to find one that had been staring at me from behind a bush was quite unnerving. As if she could read my thoughts, the girl shifted her head slightly and stared directly at me. As soon as I saw the helplessness in her eyes, I knew that I couldn't just stand there while everyone tried to kill her.

"Stop!" I yelled out and ran towards the girl. "Can't you see you're hurting her?"

"That's kind of the point!" someone yelled out from the crowd. I ignored the comment and tried to lift up the girl, she let out a small cry of pain and I knew that I was hurting her.

"Are you hurt?" I asked the girl softly, wondering if she understood our language. The girl nodded her head slowly and winced as she gradually tried to sit up.

"Arizona! What in Nefura do you think you're doing?" I looked up to see Marcus come running up to me. I jumped up, "Marcus, You have to let her go! They're hurting her!"

Marcus started at me as if I had grown two heads, "Arizona…is there something wrong with you? Are you sick? Did someone hit you on the head? Do you have any idea who this person is?"

"Yes I do! And I think you should let her go!"

Marcus's mouth dropped, "No of course not! She's _enemy_ Arizona, E-N-E-M-Y! We don't help _enemies_! She trespassed on our land, she deserves to die."

I stared at Marcus dumbfounded, I couldn't believe what he was saying, and "I honestly can't believe you just said that. What if you accidently trespassed on Wixurite land? Would you prefer them to kill you?"

Marcus shook his head, "I wouldn't trespass in the first place!"

"But what if you did? Accidently!"

"I wouldn't though! How stupid do I think I am?"

I groaned; there was no way I was going to persuade Marcus by shouting at him. I rubbed my face and looked at Marcus, "Marcus, please. I'll take care of her, I promise. You won't even know she's here… just don't let them kill her. Please"

Marcus looked at me and didn't say anything for a minute. I imagined something flicker in his eye but he quickly turned away. He sighed then went to the one of the guards and quietly mumbled something about letting the girl go. He then turned around at me and nodded once. I huge grin spread across my face and I was about to pick the girl up when Marcus strode towards us. He grabbed the girls hand and dragged her away.

"Marcus… you're hurting-"I stopped as Marcus turned and glared at me; as if to say, 'don't push your luck Arizona' and pulled the girl roughly after him. I quickly ran after them.

Marcus took the girl to a quiet secluded spot away from the crowd. I marvelled at his knowledge of isolated places in Nefura. The girl twisted her arm and struggled to get free, "Get your hands OFF me!"

My mouth dropped, I couldn't believe I had just heard the girl _shout_! A couple of minutes before, I was speculating whether she could even understand my language!

Marcus pushed her away, "What the hell are you doing in our land!"

The girl gave Marcus a withering look while rubbing her arm where Marcus had grabbed her. I took a good look at the girl, and noticed that she was very, _very_ pretty. Her hair was styled in a short bob with longer bits of hair in the front and a side fringe. I couldn't help notice that her hair was _black_, so black that it looked like it had shades of blue in it. She had a delicate pixie face with a creamy complexion that made her turquoise eyes stand out. Her wings were a sparkly black with threads of silvery green and purple that seemed to weave into the black. On the side of her face were dark purple Celtic knots.

The girl shrugged her shoulders airily and turned away, "I'm not some sort of spy you know…" she said dryly. Marcus marched up to her and was about to spin her around when the girl turned- lightning fast – and grabbed Marcus's hand. "I'm just as strong as you are pretty boy" she hissed.

Marcus pulled his hand free and glared at the girl. "Get this girl of our land, Arizona … and fast." He walked off without a second glance.

I stared at his retreating back, completely surprised by his anger. Marcus was unlike anything that I had ever thought he was. I turned around to find the girl staring at me silently. I stared back, "Why were you staring at me the other day?"

"Why did you save me" the girl replied.

"What's your name?" I asked, avoiding her question.

"Why did you save me" the girl repeated.

I exhaled noisily, "I don't know why I saved you okay? I saw something in your eyes, and impulsively decided to save you."

The girl narrowed her eyes at me, "I don't need _saving_, I'm fine on my own. You and your pretty-face boyfriend can just stay the hell away from me all right?"

My jaw dropped. This girl was the rudest, most arrogant girl I had ever met in my life. "Excuse me? I just saved your ass out there. You were _about to be killed _and that's the thanks I get? Honestly? I should've just let you die! How much more ungrateful can you get?"

I was about to walk away when I heard the girl cough. I stopped and turned my head, "Hey…thanks for saving my life." The girl mumbled, "I… I should've thanked you… I just assumed that you were like… you know, those conceited, self-righteous Nefurite girls that we, Wixurites, hear about. Guess I was wrong … umm … … sorry."

I turned around fully and shrugged one shoulder, "Hey, it's okay. However… there is one thing that isn't."

The girl furrowed her brows, "… and that is?"

I raised my eyebrows, "I've answered your question… but you haven't answered mine. What's your name?"

The girl looked down again, "Raquel. My name's Raquel."

"What are you doing in Nefura?" Raquel and I were sitting on two big rocks that were located in the same place where Marcus had left us.

Raquel pursed her lips contemplating how much she could tell me, "Well… umm… I was kicked out."

"Kicked out from where? Your tribe?"

Raquel nodded, "Yup."

"But why?" I asked

Raquel narrowed her eyes, "Why do you want to know?"

I shrugged, "Just curious. That's all…"

Raquel exhaled, "My Dad died when I was born, leaving me, my older brother and my mum to fend for ourselves. My mother gave us food and water by… by doing some 'things' that were considered completely immoral in our society. It's a wonder why no one killed her off then. I'm pretty sure the only reason they let her live was because they all knew my Dad and they knew he was a good guy. Anyway, my mother died a couple of months ago. The members of my tribe… they didn't want me and my brother in their society, we were a disgrace. So they kicked us out. A simple and effective way to get rid of us- one that doesn't involve blood shed."

I stared at Raquel; I had no idea how much this girl had gone through. Raquel glanced at me, "What?"

I looked away, "nothing."

Raquel frowned but didn't say anything.

"So where's your brother?" I asked slowly. Raquel waved her hands around, "he's here and there, most probably in the forest."

I frowned, "In _our_ forest?"

Raquel slowly nodded, "… where else?"

"Why's he in the forest?"

Raquel rubbed her nose, "We live there for the time being."

"What?" I cried, "You mean you don't have a place to stay?"

Raquel sighed exasperatedly, "Arizona, that's your name right? Arizona?' She waited for me to confirm, and when I nodded she continued, "I just got kicked out of my tribe all right? I come into this tribe hoping for refuge, and what do I get? I get stones pelted at me- hell, they were so hard they might as well have been boulders; obviously I'm very welcome here aren't I? Look Arizona. People can't even stand the sight of me stepping on their _beautiful_, _clean _land, why would they even consent to me having a place to stay in?"

When I didn't say anything, Raquel glanced at me wearily, "You did understand what I just said didn't you?"

I nodded, and looked at her face- _really_ looked at her face. There were red marks and bruises that were slowly turning a dark purple under her eyes, her lip was cut in three places, and there were scratches and cuts on her cheeks where the stones had hit her. I looked down at her arms, and there were more bruises and scrapes from where she fell on the hard ground. Her tight black tank top was torn a bit and her knee was bleeding.

She noticed me looking at her wounds and self consciously turned away, "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to stare?"

I ignored her and stood up, "Come on, we're going to get you cleaned up."

Raquel glanced at me sharply, "Where?"

"At my house…"

Raquel shook her head, "Weren't you listening to anything I've told you? If anyone sees me, I'm dead. Literally."

"Well we have to get you cleaned up! You're bleeding, and if we don't clean it fast, it's going to get infected."

Raquel slowly stood up and winced as she put pressure on her hurt knee, "I can go to the forest and clean myself there."

She started to take a few steps but had to stop, her knee was hurting too much. I immediately put one arm under her arms and helped her take a couple more steps, "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not, you're in absolutely no position to walk home by yourself."

Raquel rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was grateful for my assistance.

We half walked half stumbled into the forest with Raquel giving directions towards the place where she stayed. Finally she stopped, "its right there" she pointed towards a blanket of leaves that seemed to cover an opening to a small clearing.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked,  
>Raquel sat down on the ground and exhaled, "… my leg is <em>aching<em>. Call my brother."

I walked towards the clearing, and wasn't sure if I should open it or shout. I finally decided with the latter, "Excuse me!' I cried out, "Is anybody there?"

I started as the leaf curtain swung open and a tall, well-built, young man stood in front of me. He carried a sharp knife and pointed it at me, "What do you-"he stopped and looked behind me, "What in the … Raquel!" he shouted in disbelief and ran to her. He took one look at her leg, picked her up and carried her into the house. I stayed outside wondering if I was allowed to go in, "You can come in Arizona!" I heard Raquel shout from inside the house. I cautiously opened the leaf curtain and took a step or two inside the clearing.

It was small, with the same leaf curtain serving as a roof and walls. There was a fire in the middle and a pot resting on top of it. Raquel was lying on what looked like, three of four layers of leaf curtains. She raised her eyebrows at me warily, "What do you think of my humble abode?"

"It's pretty cute actually," I smiled, and Raquel slowly tilted the corner of her lip, probably the closest to a smile that she would ever give me.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

I sat down and leaned against one of the leaf curtains, which was surprisingly quite firm and watched her brother slowly wrap strips of gauze around her knee, and put small cotton bandages on her arms and cheeks. While Raquel and her brother made small talk occasionally, I stayed silent through out the entire process, observing the way he used the sap of different leaves as creams to reduce the swelling under her eye.

Finally, he finished and after washing his hands he turned to me, "Hey… I never got around thanking you for saving Raquel's life." He grinned and I automatically grinned back.  
>"Umm… it's all right." I gingerly replied, "I'm Arizona by the way." I stuck my hand out; Raquel's brother took my hand and shook it, "I'm Reed. Raquel's brother."<p>

Reed was no unattractive guy, in fact, he was quite the opposite. He had the same colour hair as Raquel- so black that it looked like it had streaks of blue in it. He was just about as tall as Marcus, with tanned skin and plenty of big muscles. His clothing was similar to what Raquel was wearing, a tight black shirt with what looked like belts with buckles all along the side. He wore black baggy pants that had a thick silver chain across them- no doubt a weapon of some sort. Reed would have appeared very intimidating had it not been for his smile. Reed had a smile that was sweet yet cheeky; it compelled you to smile back.

I quickly shook the thoughts out of my head and scolded myself inwardly. _ARIZONA, WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND FALLING FOR GUYS THAT ARE, AT THE VERY LEAST, UNTOUCHABLE? MARCUS- PRINCE ENGAGED TO YOUR BEST FRIEND, WHO ALSO HAPPANS TO BE THE FUTURE QUEEN OF YOUR TRIBE, AND NOW? REED- A WIXURITE, WHO IN REALITY, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HATE WITH ALL YOUR LIFE. GET A GRIP ARIZONA." _

I looked up to find Reed staring at me curiously. "What?" I asked, Reed smiled and shook his head. He sat down and turned to look at me, "Nothing. But I want to know, why did you save my sister? You are a Nefurite aren't you?"

I nodded, "I am, but I don't really know why… I just felt like it was the right thing to do at the moment."

Reed nodded, "Thanks again." 

We both stayed silent for a couple of minutes, Reed lost in his own thoughts and me watching Raquel slowly fall asleep and felt my eyelids go heavy in response. I stretched and stood up, "I should go home now; it's late."

Reed jumped up, "I'll walk you home."

I smiled nervously. W_hy did Reed want to walk me home? Did he think I was cute or something? _I looked up, "Why?"

Reed looked at me as if I was stupid, "Chic, do you even know how dark it is out there? A little girl walking by herself _in the pitch dark_ is nothing short of a sitting duck for all kinds of predators!"

I blushed; obviously he wasn't walking me home for any romantic interests. "Oh..."

Reed shrugged, "Raquel would've walked you home, but as you can see she's a bit busy being injured at the moment- she's momentarily unavailable. So, I'm all that's left _and_ I know you don't know me that well _but_ I'm a nice guy and pretty good looking too. If truth be told, most people would rather me walk them home then my sister. In my humble opinion, I think it's a privilege that you should accept without hesitation."

Although I tried to keep a straight face, smiling was inevitable. "Oh really? It's a privilege?"

Reed gave two huge exaggerated nods with his head, "Absolutely."

I laughed, "You're an idiot."

Reed seemed to think about that for a minute, "Hmm… that's a new one. I've been called hot, sexy, even _dazzling_, but never an idiot…"

"Well, there always a first."

Reed grinned, "Smart ass, anyway, stop talking. We have to get you home, you ready?"

I opened my mouth in mock bewilderment, "Me? Talking? You've been the one talking all this time!"

Reed stuck his tongue out at me and started walking outside, "Shh! Let's go!"

I rolled my eyes and followed him out of their home, grateful for the way he relieved the tension that had been subtly building up since I arrived with Raquel.

We walked slowly towards my house in a comfortable silence; finally I turned to him, "Aren't you scared that anyone's going to see you?"

Reed cocked his head thoughtfully, his black hair flopping into his eyes, "….Nope."

When I didn't reply, Reed explained, "It's way to dark for anyone to notice that I'm an outsider and since my wings aren't open, it's practically impossible for them to see my dark colours."

I nodded, and then realizing that he couldn't see it, I replied, "You're right"

Reed smirked, "I'm always right"

I risked playfully pushing him, "Whatever Trevor!"

Reed laughed out loud, "Whatever Trevor? Is that all you've got?"

"You're just not worth any good comebacks,"

Reed raised his eyebrows, "Oh yeah?"

I crossed my arms stubbornly, "Oh yeah."

Reed stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Well… I'll have to change that won't I?" he said quietly.

I snorted, "And how do you propose doing that?"

Reed came close to me – too close- and gently nudged me with his shoulder, "Just wait and see, little chic, wait and see"

My heart started beating unusually fast at his touch, and disabled me from thinking of a quick reply, so instead I just stayed quiet.

Neither of us said nothing, until I saw my house in the distance, "That's my house, thanks for walking me home Reed."

Reed shrugged, "Anytime. It's the least I could do to thank you for saving my little sister"

We both stood in an uncomfortable silence for a moment, when Reed finally broke the awkwardness, "_So_… I'll be going then!"

I smiled and waved- a bit too cheerfully, "Bye then!"

He smiled his cheeky smile once more and disappeared into the darkness.

I opened the door to my house, smiling to myself and turned on the light. I took a step back when I realized that my mother was sitting on our table with her back towards me.

"Mum?"

My mum turned around slowly, she looked tired and her mouth was set in a grim line. "Arizona … where…were…you?" she whispered, dragging out each word.

I shrugged, "Just here and there…"

My mum rubbed her forehead, "What do you mean, 'here and there?'"

"Just here … and there? Anyway, why do you care?"

My mum's eyes flew open, "Why do I care? I'll tell you why I care," and with that she got up from her chair so fast that she knocked the chair over. She strode over to me, "I'll tell you _why I care_! I care because you're my only child! I'm your mother Arizona! I love you!"

I suddenly grew angry, "Yeah well, if you're my mother, then why are you hiding something from me? You don't care about me! You never did!"

My mum's eyes blazed, "Then why do I feed you everyday? Why do I let you have a house to sleep in? WHY DID I SIT UP WAITING FOR YOU TO COME BACK FROM WHEREVER IT IS THAT YOU CAME FROM? Tell me that Arizona, tell me that…"

I took a step back, "I don't know!"

My mother crossed her arms and shook her head, "No, of course you don't. You know why? It's because you're still a child. No matter how grown up you think you are, you're still an immature, ungrateful little child and you got so much more to learn, and missing school? That's not going to help you Arizona. Not at all."

My anger slowly faded away, "…but how did you know?"

My mum looked at me, a pitiful smile on her lips, "Arizona … I was in the market place. I was trying to find a special herb, and just happened to see you roaming about like some girl that has no life at all. What were you doing Arizona?"

I shook my head, still trying to get over the shock of it all, my mother had seen me the entire time? It was … embarrassing. "It's none of your business…"

My mum clenched her fists, "It is my business, you ungrateful child! I'm you're mother!" she hissed.

"THEN WHY…ARE…YOU…KEEPING…STUFF…HIDDEN…FROM…ME? Why won't you tell me who my Dad is?"

My mum threw her hands into the air, "Why are you so adamant about knowing who your father is? Can't you accept the fact that he's dead Arizona?"

I shook my head rapidly, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes, "No! I can't! He's my _father_!"

My mother spun around, "Oh for _goodness sake! _Fine! You want to know about him! Well I'll tell you okay! Your father was a warrior. Like you. He died while fighting for Nefura. Are you happy?"

"What was his name?"

My mother exhaled, "Felix. Felix Crexore."

I rubbed my eyes in surprise, "That was father's name? Felix?"

"Yes Arizona!"

"Well then, why was it so hard for you to tell me about him before?"

My mother shook her head slowly, "While I was pregnant and alone…your father was fighting a war. That same war killed him, and left me with nothing, nothing except you. I needed him Arizona! I loved him! So, I tried to forget about him. I tried to forget about the pain and hurt that I experienced when he died and left me… and trying to forget about the pain is _surprisingly_ quite hard to do when your child won't stop asking questions about him!"

"He was my father, I have a right to ask questions don't you think?"

My mother ran her hands through her hair, "You got your answers; now please stop talking about him."

My mother then strode past me and went upstairs to her bedroom. I walked to the windows and stared out at the night sky. 'Felix' I murmured to myself. I was finally being allowed to know the father I never knew and I wondered if he was somewhere in the sky, looking down at me and wishing that he had known me just as much as I wished I had known him.

The next morning I woke up to find my mother making breakfast. She turned around when she heard me, "Hi sweetie" she said tentatively. When I didn't reply she hesitated and looked down, twisting her fingers nervously. I was about to walk past her when she stopped me, "Arizona… look, about last night… I'm sorry. I really am. I know how much you wanted to know about your father and … I don't know. I acted really selfishly; I thought only about myself and didn't once think about how hard it must've been for you to not know your father.' When I didn't reply, she exhaled shakily and continued, "Sweetie, I know you're angry. You have a right to be. I shouldn't have acted the way I did last night, I was angry over the fact that you missed school and the way you were so…so…' she waved her hands around trying to find the appropriate word, '… _fixated_ on trying to find out who your father was. I'm really, really sorry."

I nodded slowly, glad that this we had gotten over this hurdle, "I'm sorry too Mum. I guess I _was_ bordering on obsession…"

My Mum laughed and hugged me carefully as if I was a fragile china doll and if she squeezed too hard I would shatter into a thousand pieces. I hugged her back and stepped back. My Mother tilted her head to the side, "I've missed you Ari."

I grinned, "I've missed you too mum."

I walked outside in a much happier mood then I had been this entire week. I was considering going to visit Peony and tell her the new about my father, when I thought of Raquel. I wondered whether she had enough food to eat and decided that she didn't. If she did, she wouldn't have been in the market place stealing a loaf of bread.

As I reached the clearing where Raquel and Reed lived, I saw them both sitting outside. Reed lying on the ground, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, and Raquel sitting opposite him, poking a stick at a couple of mushrooms. I came closer quietly, hoping to surprise them, but as soon as I took one step, Reed's eyes flew open and looked directly at me.

"Hey look! It's 'Whatever Trevor' girl!" he sat up and waved, "Come here!"

Raquel turned and raised her eyebrows, "Hey."

Reed turned towards Raquel, "You know she called me an idiot?"

Raquel smirked, "Why isn't that surprising Reed? Hmm?"

Reed rolled his eyes, "Girls…" he muttered, then turned to me. "What brings you here, Trevor?"

I shrugged, "I was wondering if you guys were hungry?"

Raquel narrowed her eyes at me, "What makes you think that?"

"Uh well… you stole- you _tried_ to steal- a loaf of bread from the marketplace… if you weren't hungry, you wouldn't have done that."

Reed nodded, "_Very_ smart observation Trevor. I commend you for that!"

I didn't know if he was being sarcastic or if he was genuinely commending me for the observation, so I just grinned slightly and looked at Raquel questioningly. "So… you hungry or what?"

Eventually Raquel nodded, "Yeah… We're kind of starving." She grudgingly admitted.

I smiled, "I'll go get something from the market place all right? You guys stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Raquel nodded and smiled briefly before going back to poking mushrooms but Reed jumped up, "Nuh uh. I'm coming with you."

I narrowed my eyes, "Are you crazy? Of course you're not coming with me! You'll get killed!"

Reed shrugged nonchalantly, "I'll go in disguise."

I shook my head, "Where in Nefura are you going to get a disguise from?"

Reed smiled smugly, "I got some pretty neat stuff under my sleeve…disguises included."

I shook my head again, "Look. Why do you want to come anyway? Tell me what you want and I'll go get it."

Reed rubbed his arm, "Trevor! Stop asking so many questions. I want to come 'because I want to see how Nefura looks. I'll be in disguise so no one will recognize me, why are you so worried?"

I closed my eyes, "okay fine. Come. If you die it's your own fault."

Reed grinned and ran into the shelter; a minute later he appeared wearing a blond wig and a white shirt.

As soon as I saw him I laughed out loud, "Reed! You look hilarious!"

Reed stuck his chin up in the air, "One day I'll be a superstar."

I smirked and coughed, Reed narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. "Are you going to just stare at me all day or can we go …?"

I stifled a laugh and gestured to him to follow me, "Come on looser; let's go."

The marketplace was busy and Reeds mouth dropped, "Chic… The marketplace here is like ¼ the size of the marketplace in Wixur! Not meaning to brag or anything…"

I rolled my eyes, "If it's not big enough for you, feel free to go back to Wixur anytime you want. No one's stopping you and why do you keep calling me Trevor? My name's Arizona."

Reed grinned, "Trevor suits you better"

I was about to shoot a comeback at him when I noticed a couple of men standing not too far from where we were standing.

"Oh hell no …."

Reed frowned, "What? It does suit you…"

I smacked his arm, "No you idiot. Look whose there…" I pointed towards the men.

Reed looked closely at them, "I have absolutely no idea who those men are."

At that moment one of the men turned and saw me pointing at him, and even from where I was standing, I could see Marcus's sun-kissed face drop and his eyes widen with surprise or shock- I couldn't tell.

The men he was with started to walk past us, and Marcus quickly stood in front of them so they wouldn't see us. He hastily tried to steer the men into a different direction. If it was in different circumstances, I would've found the entire scene extremely funny.

"Who was that?" asked Reed, looking at Marcus trying to drag the now majorly confused men away from us.

"That was Prince Marcus."

Reed looked at me surprised, "You know him?"

I nodded, "Yeah I do…"

Reed fully turned around, "Are you some kind of Princess? Or Royal?"

I laughed, "No, Marcus's fiancé is one of my best friends."

Reed stared at me bewildered, "You mean the princess of Nefura is your best friend? How?"

I chuckled at his bewilderment, "We met when I was young. I used to go to the palace for trainings with the master warrior of the palace."

Reeds eyes widened, "You train with the master warrior of the Nefurite palace? Why?"

"Reed, you have got to stop repeating everything I say. Seriously, It's creeping me out."

Reed grinned sheepishly, "Sorry…it's hard to comprehend you know?"

I shrugged, "I guess… umm, I want to become a warrior in the palace, so the master warrior's teaching me."

Reed looked impressed, "You must be good then."

I grinned, "Aw… no. I'm all right."

Reed started to walk, "Ugh. Modesty doesn't suit you Trevor"

I rolled my eyes and walked after him.

Later that day, I decided to go the palace to see if Sir Ramon was there. I wanted to see if he knew anything about my father but unfortunately he wasn't there. As I was walking out, I heard someone scream out my name. I spun around and saw Akira running to me in full speed. She gave me a big hug and pulled back, "Oh sweet Nefura Ari, I'm so sorry."

I smiled in confusion, "why…"

Akira hugged me again, "What I did to you before! I rejected you for Marcus! I'm so sorry! I'll never, ever do that again! You're my friend! My best friend and no one will take that place!"

I grinned, "Hey Akira, its fine. I was being a bit of a baby walking out like that."

Akira shook her head, "No! You weren't. It was my fault. I'm sorry."

I shook her gently, "Stop apologizing! It's all right! I'm sorry too! We're both sorry!"

Akira laughed, "Yes we are!"

I laughed along with her.

We walked around the palace for a while when we heard a soft cough behind us. We turned and Marcus was standing there. Akira beamed, "Marcus! Look, it's Ari! We're friends again!"

Marcus nodded politely, "I see." I noticed he avoided eye contact with me. Suddenly Akira turned and grabbed my arm, "Goodness me Ari, did you hear about the Wixurite who came into our tribe?"

My eyes widened as I realised that Akira still didn't know about the fact that I was taking care of the Wixurite. I glanced at Marcus and he quickly shook his head, warning me not to tell Akira anything. I laughed nervously, "Yes… I umm… I heard about…it."

Akira shook her head, oblivious to the signal that Marcus gave me, "It's disturbing really, Wixurites allowed to come into our land and hide in our forests! It's utterly disturbing. I mean, if they can reside in our forest, who knows what else will do the same thing! We could be having monsters in our forests and we would have no clue! … it's a bit embarrassing actually."

I nodded empathetically and a hid a smile when I saw Marcus doing the same thing. At that moment, one of Akira's maids came out and called Akira for some dress fitting.

Akira nodded at the maid and turned towards us, "I have to go in. Why don't you both stay out here for a while? Maybe get to know each other a bit?"

I tried to protest and Marcus put his hand up in objection but Akira laughed, "Come on you two, I'll be back before you know it." And with that Akira strode into the palace.

Marcus and I stood in awkward silence for a moment, me focusing entirely on my nails and Marcus suddenly realizing that the garden flowers were in fact quite enthralling. Finally Marcus turned to me, "Want to tell me why that Wixurite is still alive and why there's another Wixurite?"

I concentrated on the ground, "Well…I don't really know what you're talking about and even if I did, to be honest, I don't think I'd really want to tell-"

"Arizona."

I continued staring at the ground, "What did you mean that there's another Wixurite?"

"I don't know Arizona, Why don't you tell me?" Marcus's voice dripped with sarcasm.

I shrugged, "Marcus listen. That girl has nowhere to go; she got kicked out from her tribe because of something her _mom_ did. She was completely innocent! Marcus, she's hurt- really hurt, and I feel sorry for her."

Marcus didn't say anything and I looked up to find him staring at the flowers again.

Eventually he turned to me again, "Who's the other Wixurite?"

I looked back down, "What do you mean?"

Marcus exhaled loudly, "The Wixurite that was walking with you today in the Marketplace, Arizona!"

"… He wasn't a Wixurite."

Marcus shook his head in frustration, "Yeah, and I'm a bakers son. Arizona, don't lie to me. Were you or were you not walking with a Wixurite in the marketplace in broad daylight?"

Reluctantly I nodded my head, "How did you know he was a Wixurite? He was wearing a blond wig."

Marcus looked at me as if I was stupid, "Arizona, anyone with half a brain could tell he was a Wixurite from half a mile away. Have you even seen his eyes? There like black holes. No Nefurite would have those kinds of eyes."

I groaned, "… didn't think of the eyes…"

Marcus rolled his eyes, "Of course you wouldn't. You're too impulsive, you don't think before you do something."

I turned to him, "What is wrong with you? Why are you so angry?"

Marcus's eyes flashed, "I'm going to be the prince of this tribe. I was born and brought up learning how to keep my tribe safe and now I find myself allowing two Wixurite refugees to stay in _my_ tribe and go about visiting the marketplace with a Nefurite girl who's going to be the warrior of this palace! You'd think that I would have a pretty good reason to be just a tad bit frustrated right?"

I stared at him, "Fine. Go send them back to their tribe. Even better, kill them. Go. I won't stop you. If you think it's totally okay to kill innocent lives, well go for it! You are the _Prince of this country_ aren't you?"

Marcus shook his head, "Do you have any idea how annoying you are?"

"Is that what you think of me? Annoying? Well excuse me, but I wasn't the one who came running up to me and wanting to 'have a fresh start'."

Marcus was about to reply but stopped when Akira came back. Akira smiled when she saw us, "So what you two talk about?"

I shrugged, unable to speak due to fear that I would burst into tears after what Marcus said to me. Marcus, after realizing that I wasn't about to reply to Akira's question, quickly turned to Akira, "Uh… I was just telling her about the Flutterwing dance tonight."

Akira beamed and clapped her hands, "Ari! I can't wait for tonight! You're coming aren't you?"

I nodded slowly, In light of everything that had happened in the past few days, the Flutterwing Dance had been squashed in the back of my mind and I had completely forgotten about it.

Akira whispered something to Marcus and he turned to me. He cleared his throat and gave me a forced smile, "Arizona. Akira wants me to personally invite you to the Flutterwing Dance. It would be an honour if you came."

I ignored Marcus and nodded at Akira instead, I swallowed and tried to muster up a smile, "Of course I'll be there Akira. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Akira squealed and hugged me, "Oh I am so happy that you're coming Ari! Marcus and I have practised the dance steps for _so long_! It would have been horrible if you missed it!"

"Like I said…I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The day went by pretty quickly and before I knew it, I was in my house getting ready for the Flutterwing Dance. I chose a vintage, green silk frock that went well with my eyes. The straps were quite thick- bunched up silk, and it had a dark green ribbon going across my waist that led to a voluminous skirt-like finish. I piled my blond hair up in a messy bun and pushed my fringe to the side and put on a bit of makeup. My mum came into my room and sat on my bed, "Sweetie, you look stunning."

I grinned, "Thanks mum."

She came up behind me and put something around my neck, I looked in the mirror and saw that she had placed a beautiful necklace on my neck, it was silver and had diamonds encrusted all along the chain.

"Mum…where did you get this?"

My mum smiled, "It was mine when I was your age, and my mother gave it to me. Take it, it looks good on you."

I turned and hugged her, "Thank you so much"

My mum laughed, "Be careful now! Don't want you to ruin that dress of yours do we?"

I pulled back and straightened my dress.

My mum squeezed my arm gently, "Arizona. You're getting late."

I looked up and suppressed a scream; the dance would have already started! I said goodbye to my mum and ran out the door- totally uncomfortable in my heels.

Finally- after running as fast as I could- I reached the gates of the palace. Trevin grinned at me, "Somebody's running a bit late huh?"

I grinned back, trying to catch my breath, "Oh you have no idea..."

He let me in and as I walked through the gates, I couldn't help but gasp at the decorations. All the trees, bushes and even flowers had some sort of brightly lit decoration on them. The place looked stunning.

Eventually I reached the entertainment hall- the place where the Flutterwing dance was being held. A doorman bowed slightly and opened the door. As soon as I entered I was overwhelmed by the noise- a million fairies laughing and dancing. I searched the room for anyone I knew and saw Peony dancing with Jake. I ran up to her and she waved when she saw me.

"Ari… You look gorgeous girl!" she shouted at me, trying to make her voice heard over the loud noise of laughing fairies having _way too much fun_.

I grinned and did a little twirl, "Why thank you Peony,"

Jake came up behind me and smiled shyly, "Hi Arizona."

I smiled at him, "Hey Jake, How you been?"

Jake shrugged, "great.' He looked at Peony, "It's been great ever since Peony came into my life."

Peony laughed and turned to me, "He's just saying that!"

Jake tried to protest but I quickly interrupted, "_Okay_… Moving on from this subject, Peony can I talk to you for a second?"

Peony laughed again and nodded, "Of course you can my darling."

I gave Peony a weird look and turned to find a quiet spot. When I finally found one, I dragged Peony towards it.

Peony sat down on a seat and grinned stupidly up at me, "Isn't he adorable Ari?"

"Definitely." I said sarcastically.

Peony smacked me on my arm, "Don't be mean! He's so sweet…"

I pretended to stick my finger down my throat. Peony rolled her eyes and grinned, "So what did you want to tell me?"

I sat down and beamed at her, "You will _not_ believe what I've just found out!"

Peony frowned, "That Prince Marcus has a brother?"

This time I rolled my eyes, "Ew, of course not."

Peony looked wounded, "What? He's so handsome!"

"What happened to _Jake is adorable! Jake is sooo sweet!" _

Peony smiled, "Hey, it never hurts to dream."

"Okay whatever. Listen to me!"

Peony laughed, "Okay! Okay!"

"I… just…found…out…who…my…Dad…was!"

Peony squealed, "Are you serious Ari?"

I nodded, jumping up and down on my seat. Peony covered her mouth with her hands, "That's amazing Ari! Who was he?"

"He was a warrior!"

Peony squealed again, "That's great! At least now we know where you get your reflexes from!"

I laughed and hugged her, "Peony, I'm so happy. I finally know who my father is."

Peony grinned, "I'm happy too. How did you find out?"

"You won't believe that either! My mother told me!"

Peony's eyes went wide, "Are you serious? But why? I thought she was really sensitive about all this?"

I nodded, "I thought that too… but yeah. She told me."

Peony nodded her head once thoughtfully, "So what are you going to do now?"

I scrunched up my face, "Ugh… I have _absolutely___no idea. I was thinking of going to Sir Ramon and asking him if he knows any information about my Father."

Peony nodded, "That's a good idea. Sir Ramon must know something about your father, if not anyone else."

"ARIZONA!"

I turned around and saw Akira walking towards me. I jumped up and hugged her, "Akira! You look fabulous!"

Akira was wearing a gold and white gown with crystals sown in between the seams. She also had diamonds weaved into her hair and on top of her head rested a beautiful gold crown.

Akira laughed and grabbed my shoulders, "Have you even seen the way _you_ look?"

I shrugged, "Compared to you, I look like nothing! Seriously! You shine brighter than the sun!"

Akira laughed even more, "The sun?"

"Yes! Gold gown, gold hair, gold crown… and all those diamonds…."

Akira looked down at her dress, "The sun… hmm… never thought of that, but hey! You came!"

I grinned, "Didn't you hear what I said before? I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Akira nodded, "Of course you wouldn't. Anyway, you came just in time. We're about to dance in a few minutes. Do want to sit with us?"

I looked down and realized the Akira had neither spoke to or acknowledged Peony. Furthermore, Akira had acted as if Peony didn't exist.

I glanced at Peony who was looking at her feet pretending that she didn't care. I shrugged and turned to Akira, "No… I can't. I'm staying with Peony."

Akira flipped her hair behind her shoulders, "Come on Ari… we would love it if you came and sat with us! I'm sure your friend wouldn't mind!"

I looked back at Peony but she was already standing up. "Ari… why don't you sit with the Princess? I'll just go and be with Jake!"

She started to walk off but I grabbed her hand, "Peony! Are you sure?"

She pushed my hands away and smiled a bit too much, "no, no I'm fine really. Go sit with the Princess, she's a much better company than me!" and with that she walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

Akira watched Peony go and then turned to me, "Well! That's settled then! You're coming with me!"

I shook my head, "Akira…You were a bit rude to her just then."

Akira frowned slightly and I knew I had annoyed her a bit, "Arizona. You deserve so much better company than her. I mean, have you even seen the way she looks? Or dresses? Either way Arizona. I'm a princess and princesses are _never_ rude. We just don't fake well."

I stared at Akira. Where did that come from?

Akira must've noticed me staring for she quickly smiled at me and pulled my hands gently, "Arizona, don't let these trivial things distract you from all t he fun we're going to have! Come; let's get you something to drink!"

She pulled me towards a huge table near the front of the room. Seated at the table were officials and important people. At the head of the table sat the Queen and at the opposite end, the King. I studied the Kings old, but wise face. I had never spoken to him but he was someone I greatly respected.

Akira pulled me towards the table where the Queen sat. Beside the Queen sat Marcus, he seemed to be having an important discussion over something. When Akira and I approached, the Queen turned and beamed at me, "My dear! Don't you look stunning! Come sit down! She gestured at the chair opposite Marcus. I turned to Akira but she had already moved towards the seat next to Marcus and sat down. I sat down and tentatively peeked at Marcus, he was staring at me, his face expressionless. I looked up at him, but as soon as he caught my eyes, he looked down.

The Queen waved her hand at someone, and then smiled at me, "So Arizona. How have you been keeping?"

I smiled respectfully, "I've been doing fine ma'am."

She gestured to Marcus, "You have met Akira's fiancé, haven't you? Prince Marcus?"

I nodded slowly not looking at him, "Yes your majesty, I have."

When the Queen realized I wasn't going to say anything more, she asked another question, "So how is your mother?"

"She's fine ma'am."

The Queen nodded thoughtfully, "I haven't seen her in a long while Arizona, you have to bring her over to the Palace sometime."

I nodded, "She is a bit busy ma'am but I will bring her over."

A waiter approached the Queen at that moment, and said something. She nodded once, and gave an apologetic look to Marcus, Akira and I, "I'm so sorry, but there seems to be some confusion in the Kitchen. Please excuse me."

Marcus stood up and bowed, while Akira and I bowed our heads.

After Marcus sat down, an awkward silence followed. Akira was talking to some official beside her and I didn't know anybody else on the table apart from Marcus. I carefully studied my drink- Rose water with extracts of Lily. I gazed at my pink reflection in the glass and saw that my cheeks were still flushed from running all the way here, and because of the heat and noise in the place. I was pondering whether to go the bathroom and put water on my face when I glanced up and saw Marcus staring at me again. This time he didn't look down. We stared at each other for a full thirty seconds when I finally exhaled loudly, "Do I have something on my face?"

Marcus looked taken aback; I assumed he wasn't expecting me to break the ice. "What do you mean?"

I gave him a stony glare, "The only logical explanation for a man as high and mighty as you to be staring at a girl as impulsive and ordinary as me, is that there is something on my face and it's distracting you from everything else."

Marcus's mouth twitched, "Well, no. It was quite the opposite actually."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't want to know. Just, stop staring at me."

I looked down and continued gazing at my drink. When I finally looked up, Marcus was still staring at me, but this time he had a small smile on his face. I raised my eyebrows at him, and when he replied by raising _his eyebrows_, I pushed my chair from the table and got up. I was about to leave when I felt Marcus touch my shoulder, "May I have this dance?"

I spun around, "No." I shrugged his hand of my shoulder and walked away.

I walked around trying to find Peony, when a man stood up and clapped his hands. Everyone quieted down and looked at him. The man grinned, "Everyone, before we begin the traditional Flutterwing Dance, let's get into the mood by having a 'Compe-let' dance. Everybody get into pairs!"

The Compe-let dance consisted of a couple dancing, and then changing partners halfway through and so on. I looked around as everyone scrambled here and there trying to find partners. I surveyed the chaos, hoping that I'd catch a glimpse of Peony, but she was nowhere in sight.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned, a young man bowed and stretched out his hand, "Ma'am, may I have this dance?"

I looked around once more, lest I saw Peony but once again, she was nowhere to be found. I turned back to the man and took his hand. _Don't let Marcus ruin tonight Ari. Try and have as much fun as you can!_ I told myself.

Everyone stood in a two lines; girls on one side and guy s on the other. As we took our place in the lines I noticed that Akira was in front of me. I groaned inwardly as I realized that Marcus was her partner. _Great._ I told myself, _Now you're going to have to dance with him later on._

As if he could read my mind, Marcus turned at that moment and saw me. His eyes twinkled and he bowed his head slightly, then turned and went back to facing the front.

As we were dancing I couldn't help but notice that Marcus was staring at me the entire time. I couldn't understand why Akira didn't notice his continuous staring!

Finally, it was halfway and our partners changed. I stood staring at the ground as I waited for Marcus to join me. At last I saw a pair of boots approach me and a pair of extremely large, yet extremely soft hands gently hold mine. I heard the music start and I finally looked up, but didn't look into Marcus's eyes; instead I stared over his right shoulder.

We danced in silence for a few minutes when Marcus put his head close to my ears, "You're angry at me aren't you?"

I glared at his shoulder, "No. Why would I be? It's not as if you acted like a jerk or anything…"

Marcus winced, "If you were somebody else, I would've had you thrown in jail for calling me a jerk."

I looked him right in the eye, "Throw me in jail. I really don't care Marcus."

Marcus shrugged slightly, "I wouldn't anyway."

I looked away, "Whatever."

We danced in silence again; me looking at everybody else but Marcus, and Marcus looking at me only.

I felt his face come near my ear again, "Okay look. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for calling you impulsive."

I shook my head, "You're not sorry."

Marcus nodded his head, "I am sorry. I'm sorry for _telling you_ that you're impulsive."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, and he explained, "You are impulsive. No doubt about that, but I'm sorry for telling you that you are. I should've known it would offend you."

I exhaled loudly and Marcus shook his head, "Arizona. It's nothing to be ashamed off. You're a warrior not a Princess. Being impulsive is good; you take risks that other people would never do."

"Oh yeah? It's a good thing huh? Last time we spoke, I'm pretty sure that you implied that being impulsive is bad."

Marcus nodded his head slowly, "Yes. I know. I was wrong all right? I was angry and I didn't think twice about what I was saying. Can you please forgive me?"

I ignored him and continued staring over his right shoulder. Deep down I wanted to forgive him but I still couldn't get over his harsh words the other day. He had called me impulsive and annoying, and although I hated to admit it, it still hurt.

Marcus put his head close, "While you're deciding whether to forgive me or not, let me mention to you that your necklace looks unquestionably beautiful…"

I looked up at him and he looked down at me, searching my face, "…like you" he continued.

I blinked,_ What did he just say?_

At that moment the dance finished, and everyone was getting ready for the Flutterwing dance. I saw Akira grab Marcus's hand and pull him towards the middle where they would be dancing. I stared at Marcus's disappearing back, still trying to process what he had just said. _He didn't call me beautiful. He wouldn't. You just heard wrong Ari._ I shook my head, deep down I knew that he had called me beautiful. _Maybe he was just complimenting you Ari; it didn't mean anything at all. You're just taking things to seriously. _I nodded my head. That was it. He was just complimenting me; he didn't have any feelings for me. That would've been completely absurd.

I came back from the Flutterwing Dance still in a daze from the Marcus episode. I hadn't seen him for the rest of the day and didn't even have time to question him about his comment.

I walked home, replaying the incident between Marcus and me; I smiled when I came to the part where he said my necklace looked beautiful. I wondered for the millionth time whether or not he was serious when he said I was beautiful. He was prince though, and he would never, ever say something like that to his fiancé's best friend. He was much smarter than that… _but then, why did he say it?_ I frowned to myself; it felt like I was getting worked up over nothing. Marcus probably didn't even mean anything, and here I was, getting so flustered over his tiny comment.

When I reached my house, I noticed that the door was ajar. I slowly walked in, 'Mum?' _Why had my mother left the door open? It was so unlike her…_ I walked in and turned on the lights. Everything seemed normal, except my mother was nowhere to be found. I climbed the steps to her room, 'Mum?' I called again. Once again, there was no reply. I shrugged, assuming that she had gone out to collect herbs. My mother usually went out to collect certain herbs or plants for some medicine she was concocting. Normally she would've left a note, but she must've been in a hurry and forgotten. I went into my room and took of my necklace. I smiled; the necklace was indeed very beautiful. I made a mental note to thank my mother again for the necklace.

The next day, my mother still hadn't returned, but I shrugged it off. My mother never went off for too long, she usually came back at the latest, a day or two. I decided to go to Peony and ask her if she wanted to come see Sir Ramon with me. I had yet to ask him about my father, and I still felt bad for what Akira had said to Peony the other night. I knew I had to make it up somehow.

Peony's house was located in a secluded area near the school. In front of her house was a dried up pond and weeds were growing in between the flowerbeds that lined the sides of her house. I jogged up to her door and knocked. After a couple of minutes, the door opened and Peony's face emerged. As soon as she saw me, her face went cold. Alarm bells started ringing in my mind … What had I done?

'Hey Peony…' I began nervously,

'Hey you,' Peony replied without smiling, her face still cold.

'Umm… I was wondering… do you want to come and see Sir Ramon with me?'

Peony seemed to be deep in thought, and then she finally looked up, '_Well_… I wouldn't mind, but you see… I just don't think I'm good enough to come.'

I frowned, "what…?'

Peony rolled her eyes at me, as if I was a little girl that couldn't understand the basic of sentences. "Maybe Arizona would like to take her Royal highness Princess Akira instead?"

I shook my head, "Peony…what are you going on about?"

Peony gave me a cold look, "Arizona. Remember last night? Remember when you realised that I wasn't good enough for you? That Princess Akira was so much better? Huh? Better looking, Better wealth, Better Class, Better _everything_! Go with her! Why do you want me to come with you Ari?"

"Peony, I didn't realise you were so offended! Look, Akira's my friend but so are you! You may not be as rich or whatever, as she is, but _I don't care_! You're my friend, and that's what matter most!"

Peony didn't say anything, just looked at me.

I looked down for a minute than looked back up at her, "I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry I ditched you for Akira… I promise I won't do that next time, all right?"

Peony shrugged, "gosh … I made a big fuss over that didn't I?"

I grinned, "No. You had every right."

Peony smiled at me, "Friends?"

I hugged her, "Friends." I agreed.

We pulled back and laughed, "So you coming with me?" I asked, Peony grinned and nodded, "Of course!"

Peony went inside, grabbed a jacket then started to walk with me to the Palace.

As we were walking, I bumped her with my shoulder, "By the way… I think you're very pretty."

Peony laughed out loud, "Ditto."

When we reached the Palace, I waved at Trevin. Peony looked at me, "Who's that?"

"That's Trevin', I explained, 'He's one of the warriors who are in charge of taking care of the Palace. Right now he guards the gate."

Trevin grinned when he saw us, "How was last night?"

I grinned and Peony laughed, "It was great… and a bit weird." I replied.

Trevin raised an eyebrow, "Weird huh?"

I nodded, "Yup."

"So what brings you two here?"

I gestured at Peony, "Oh, Trevin…I forgot to introduce you to Peony. She's one of my best friends."

Trevin nodded his head once, to Peony and grinned. "Hi, I'm Trevin."

Peony blushed and grinned, "Hi…"

I rolled my eyes, "Is Sir Ramon here?" I asked Trevin

Trevin shook his head, "Ah, I don't think he's free. He and some other members of the royal court are having an important meeting. It would be better if you came some other time."

I nodded, disappointed. "Oh okay then. Thanks anyway."

Trevin bowed his head to us, "Anytime Ari."

Peony and I went back to my house. I frowned; my mother still hadn't come back yet. Peony glanced at me, "Everything all right?"

I shrugged, "I don't know… my mother went out last night and still hasn't returned."

Peony frowned, "She okay?"

I shook my head, "That's the problem; I don't know if she's all right… I don't even know where she is!"

Peony put her hand on my shoulder, "Relax, she'll be fine. It's your mum we're talking about here; she knows the woods back to front!"

I nodded, "You're right… she does know the woods a lot more than any of us do…"

Peony grabbed my hand, "Come on, and let's go to the marketplace!"

I suddenly remembered Reed and Raquel. I had completely forgotten about them. "Umm… no, not right now, I have to do a couple of things first. I'll catch you later"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I walked slowly towards the forest and shuddered inwardly; no matter how many times I had been to the forest, it never failed to give me the creeps. A breeze blew through the leaves of the trees, and my head shot up. I carefully analysed the branches- hoping that I was in no danger. It was like the trees were whispering secrets that only they knew, and not I. I frowned; I wondered what secrets were hidden in the forest- apart from Raquel and Reed.

I continued to look up and around me as I walked, when suddenly I heard a noise seven or eight metres away. I crouched down, my heart beating frantically. I attempted to conjure a fire ball but my hands were shaking too much and barely produced a spark. "Come on…" I muttered, but to no avail. My fireball stubbornly refused to be conjured.

I clenched my hands in frustration; it was up to my fighting skills. I noiselessly crept to the source of the noise, it was somewhere behind a tree and a row of plants. I saw a movement of a body- I hoped- and with a yell I threw myself over the plants and onto the moving figure.

I threw punches left and right over the surprisingly small body, when I heard a muffled yell.

"WHAT THE- ARIZONA? GET OFF ME YOU FAT COW!"

I paused mid punch when I heard my name. I glanced down at the figure who was now trying to escape.

"Who are you!" I demanded,

The figure after managing to pull one of its hands out from underneath it, then removed the black hoody it was wearing and turned around with her trademark scowl.

"It's me, Raquel, you psychotic fool!"

I scrambled off Raquel with a shout of surprise, "RAQUEL? What in sweet Nefura's name are you doing here! Where's Reed?"

Raquel winced as she got to her feet, and I threw a glance guiltily at her arms- they had barely healed after her episode in the marketplace and I had just bruised them all over again.

"Reeds back at home, I _was_ here _attempting_ to feed my famished stomach, when a flying idiot threw herself on me and nearly broke every bloody bone in my body!" Her eyes shot daggers.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled sheepishly, "I thought you were someone who was going to hurt me- even kill me."

Raquel's eyebrows shot up, "Oh wait, I'm sorry, let me just repeat that,' _I_ was going to kill _you_?' Correct me if I'm wrong, but I swear it looked like _YOU_ WERE TRYING TO KILL _ME_!"

I rubbed my neck, "Yeah… like I said, I'm really sorry. What were you doing out here anyway?"

Raquel scowled again, momentarily forgetting about her near death experience.

"Like I said before, I was _attempting_ to unearth some food in this damned forest, but all I seem to find is leaves, leaves and a couple of trees whose sole purpose is to _produce more leaves!"  
><em>I had to grin at her frustration, but when Raquel caught me I quickly tried to straighten my face.

"What you laughing at?"

I shook my head, "Nothing… it's just that, this is a forest. What did you expect apart from leaves and trees?"

Raquel threw her hands in the air and with her voice dripping bucket loads of sarcasm said, "Oh I don't know? Maybe a couple of animals? OR HEY, Maybe even a berry or two!"

I frowned, "I'm sure there are some berries…"

Raquel smiled sardonically at me, "Look around Arizona. Tell me; do _you_ see any berries? Go on, look!" she gestured around her.

I shrugged, "What happened to the bread that Reed and I brought previously?"

Raquel scowled once more, "It's finished."

I grinned, "Finished? Honestly?"

Raquel glared at me, "Nah, I'm kidding. I'm just crawling on this craphole of a forest searching for food because I find it fun."

I laughed, "How did it finish so fast?"

Raquel raised an eyebrow, "I have a brother Arizona. His name is Reed. He is a pig. Need I say more?"

I laughed again, "I got the drift. I'll get something more for you guys."

I turned to go, when I remembered something and quickly turned back, "Raquel!" I called.

She turned around warily, "… what."

"Have you seen my mother around here?"

Raquel frowned, "Why would I have seen your mother? And besides, I don't even know what she looks like."

I sighed, "She's been missing, I thought that she would have been in the forest. She usually comes here."

Raquel shook her head slowly, "I haven't seen her. Does Reed know how she looks?"

I shook my head, stared at my feet. Where was my mother?

Raquel started to say something, but I was too distracted by something reflecting the few rays of the sun that came into the forest.

Raquel paused then came closer, "What are you looking at?"

I ignored her and bent down, and stifled a small scream. My eyes were wide as I picked the object up and stared at Raquel, my mouth open is slight horror.

Raquel's eyes furrowed, "Arizona? Are you okay?"

I showed her the object, she glanced at it then back at me, "I'm really not getting what you're-"

I cut her off, "It's my mother's ring!"

Raquel paused, "… so..?"

I fell on my knees, "It's my mother's ring!" I repeated, "It has been on her finger ever since I was born- she has _never_ taken it off!"

Something clicked in Raquel's mind, "You're saying that the only possibly reason for the ring to be lying on the ground is because … …you're mother has been 'hurt'?

"Or abducted! She could be … .." I couldn't say the rest of the sentence.

"Arizona, maybe the ring was too loose and it slid off. Are you sure it's hers?"

I nodded tightly and quickly got up. My eyes started to prickle and I hurriedly turned around and walked back home.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I ran to my room, and slammed my door. I threw myself on the bed, and swallowed my tears. I knew that if I started to cry, there was no way that I would be able to stop.

I stared at her ring, analysing every single crevice and curve of it. I gripped it tightly in my hand. I was going to find my mother. Even if it was the last thing I ever did.

I raced to the palace and clutched my stomach as I saw the gates in sight. I walked slowly up to the gate, breathing heavily. Trevin gave me a worried glance as I dragged my feet towards him, my calves burning.

"Arizona, are you okay?"

I nodded, still out of breath, "I need to see the Queen." I took in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart, "Now."

Trevin frowned, but opened the gates, "Sure…"

I began to run towards the Queens quarters, I needed to borrow some of her soldiers to go with me on my quest to find my mother. As I approached the Queens quarters, I saw a soldier guarding the door that led to her wing. I cautiously came near the door, and stood in front of the soldier. "I need to see the Queen."

The guard threw me a stony glare, "I'm sorry, she's busy."

I nodded politely, "Yes, but this is important. I need to see her."

The guard's facial expression didn't change, "That's most unfortunate… however, like I _mentioned before_, she…is…busy…" He accentuated each word like I was incapable of understanding complex sentences.

I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth, "And like _I_ said before… This…is…really…important!"

The guard's huge muscular arm tightened on the spear he was holding, and I involuntarily swallowed as I realised how tall and big he was.

"Ma'am, I really don't care about your business, but I care for the Queen. When I say she's busy… it means she's busy."

I gasped, "YOU RUDE INSOLENT PIECE OF-"

The guy rolled his eyes, "Would you like me to escort you outside Ma'am?" he shouted over my ranting.

I seethed, "I need to see the queen… you better let me in, or I'll make you…"

The soldiers raised his eyebrows mockingly, "Oh really? I'd like to see you try…"

"Okay then."

Before he could process what I just said, I threw a hard kick onto his face. He swore loudly and clutched his nose as white, shiny liquid spurted out. I hi-fived myself inwardly; I had made him bleed.

"You stupid girl!" He roared, and was about to punch me, when the door flung open and Sir Ramon stepped out.

"What in sweet Nefura is happening out here!"

The soldier glared at me accusingly, "Bloody fairy kicked me in the face!"

"He won't let me see the Queen!" I defended myself.

Sir Ramon raised his eyebrows calmly, "I see…" He looked over the soldier, "I have to admit Mikael; you getting beaten up by a girl is, in fact, quite disappointing."  
>The soldier- Mikael- glared at me venomously and muttered, "If you hadn't come out, I would've showed her a thing or two…"<p>

Sir Ramon ignored him and turned to me, "… Arizona! I see you're making trouble as usual. What is it that you want?"

"She wants to see the Queen." Mikael gruffly answered for me,

Sir Ramon glanced at Mikael, "Why thank you Mikael, but I'm quite sure that the question was directed at Arizona and not you. However, I appreciate your assistance; now please return to your post."

I smirked as Mikael retreated to his post; I looked up at Sir Ramon, "I really need to see the Queen…"

Sir Ramon nodded, "I understand…however, she _is busy_. It's some sort of important meeting. She should be done in a few minutes, why don't you stay with me until she's finished?"

I nodded defeated, but immediately brightened when something popped into my head, "Sir Ramon!"

He turned his head, "Yes Arizona?"

"Do you know a warrior by the name of Felix Crexore?"

Sir Ramon frowned for a few minutes, "No… I don't believe I do, however, my memory has been a bit faulty lately. Come with me and we'll go through the _Book of Caedan._"

I looked up at Sir Ramon questioningly, but he had already begun walking. The _Book of Caedan_ was the book where every warrior who ever fought for, or protected Nefura had their name written down. It was one my dreams to go and see the book and my heart skipped a beat as I realised that my dream was actually coming true!

We walked towards Sir Ramon's battle room- where I usually have my trainings. He pushed the bamboo curtain away and walked across the room till he reached a huge trunk. He flung open the trunk, and started rummaging through the trunk. After a few minutes, I heard a muffled, "Aha!" and Sir Ramon's head came into view, and he was holding a large book. He gestured for me to come closer, and I walked slowly towards him, my eyes riveted on the book; the cover was a dark brown with gold tassels. It had an amber jewel embedded in the middle, and had engravings in a foreign writing all around it.

Sir Ramon chuckled at my astonishment and opened the book. He turned a few pages and narrowed his eyes while he slid his pointer finger down each page. Finally he frowned and looked down at me, "Arizona… Are you sure you are looking for a 'Felix Crexore?"

I nodded.

Sir Ramon looked at me thoughtfully, and then turned back to the book. After a few minutes, he closed the book and sighed. "I'm sorry Arizona, there is no Felix Crexore listed in the book."

I frowned, "There must be a mistake? He has to be there."

Sir Ramon looked at me questioningly, "Arizona… you know that there isn't a mistake. Who is this Felix Crexore anyway?"

I stared at Sir Ramon. I was in complete shock. There was no Felix Crexore listed in the book. Had my mother lied to me once again? I shook my head; my mother would never have done that. I looked up at Sir Ramon, "Maybe Felix Crexore wasn't a warrior?" I asked, ignoring his previous question.

Sir Ramon slowly nodded his head, "Maybe…" If he noticed the fact that I didn't answer his question, he didn't say it.

I bit my lip, "Where would I be able to find more information on him?"

Sir Ramon sighed, "I honestly do not know Arizona. You'd best be asking someone like the treasurer, or the 'keeper of the annals of the Royals'."

I nodded, "Thanks anyway Sir Ramon," I said despondently.

Sir Ramon looked at me sympathetically, "Don't give up Arizona; I'm sure you'll find more information on Felix Crexore soon."

I nodded again and gave a small smile. Sir Ramon patted my shoulder awkwardly and then retreated out of the room with me following.

We walked back to the Queen's wing and I sighed as I saw Mikael standing there, his nose still bruised. When he saw us walking towards him, he immediately clenched his jaw tightly and gripped his spear fiercely. I heard Sir Ramon chuckle, he bowed his head towards me ear and whispered, "You made quite an impression on him Arizona…"

The corner of my mouth lifted up, "Oh yes… I definitely left an 'impression'."

Sir Ramon passed through the gates first, and I trailed behind. As I passed Mikael, he 'accidently' stuck his spear out and I stumbled over it.

My eyes widened in disbelief, "Did you see what he did!" I cried out to Sir Ramon, but he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

Mikael smirked and went back to guarding his post. I gave him a withering look then ran to catch up with Sir Ramon.

My jaw was slack as I took in the Queen's wing. It was stunning; enormous diamond chandeliers hung from the excessively high roofs that were painted with renaissance art. The Chandeliers shimmered and glistened with the few rays of sun that crept in through the stained glass windows. I glanced down; the marble floors were so smooth that I could see my reflection staring back at me. A great staircase was situated in the centre of the wing with pure gold railings.

"It's truly amazing, do you not think?" Sir Ramon asked, noticing my awe.

I nodded slowly, "Words aren't sufficient …."

Sir Ramon chuckled, "True that."

He paused for a minute then turned to me, "Arizona, I must ask you to stay here. The Queen should be out shortly and I implore you, please do not go wandering and causing trouble." He shot me a meaningful look.

I smiled, "I won't. I promise."

Sir Ramon nodded, "That's a good warrior …" and with that he left.

I walked around letting my hand slide across fancy tables and soft velvety, blood red and royal purple curtains that hung from the roof. I wondered how one could live here and not be overwhelmed. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

I approached the staircase and stood at the base. I pondered what would lie on top of the staircase. I shook my head, _No Arizona… Sir Ramon said to __stay here._"

I sighed as I stared at the staircase and felt it beckoning me, tempting me to climb up it. _Get a grip Arizona_… _It's a bloody staircase. Staircases don't tempt. They're __STAIRCASES__." _

I groaned; stupid impulsive nature. Throwing a guilty look behind me and praying that no one would see me, I began to climb the stairs one by one, with every step anticipating a tough guard to catch me and throw me in jail. _… Maybe that's a bit excessive…_ I sighed. Even if I didn't go to jail, I'd still be in a whole heap of trouble.

As I reached the last stair, I breathed a sigh of relief that no one had yet caught me. I glanced at the top floor; the staircase was attached to the middle of a long hallway. Along the hallway were paintings of all the Kings and Queens that ever ruled Nefura. I walked slowly along the hallway, taking in each painting. As I reached the end of the hallway I saw her Majesties portrait, and beside it an empty frame- no doubt belonging to the future Queen of Nefura- which was Akira. I glanced thoughtfully at the portrait of the Queen; she looked younger (obviously) and her beauty had apparently not diminished over the years. Her eyes had a sort of twinkle in them; something that I failed to see lately. Around her neck was a plain silver necklace- a contrast to the flamboyancy of her dress, crown and even the background. The pendant was covered by her dress, but I assumed it to be a priceless diamond of some sort. As I was envisioning what the pendant might possibly be, I heard soft voices murmuring in one of the many rooms that the hallway led too.

I silently walked closer and closer to the murmuring; I recognized the voice of the Queen. She seemed to be talking in tight frustration- as if she was barely controlling her temper.

The Queen and someone else seemed to be talking behind a door, and as I crept towards the door i realised that there was a small gap. I peered through the gap, and saw the Queen standing behind a figure in a long black cloak whose back was towards me.

"… IMPOSSIBLE… it's impossible…" I heard the Queen say.

The figure in the cloak whispered something that I could hear, and the Queen released a sound of frustration; "NO… It's impossible… why now? TELL ME WHY?"

I flinched as the Queen suddenly shouted, however the figure in the cloak seemed to be calm and unfazed.

The figure whispered something again, and the Queen looked down as if the burden was on her shoulders; "It's too early… she's not prepared, no one is prepared, not even me…"

The figure didn't say anything, but seemed to stare at the Queen. I noticed his hands were covered with thick black leather gloves- there wasn't a part of him that wasn't covered. I imagined how his face looked like… would that be covered as well?

I rested my hand on the wall and immediately pulled it back; it was covered with dust, obviously this place hadn't been cleaned in a while.

I proceeded to dust my hands off, and quickly realised it was a bad idea. My nose began to twitch and before I could do anything about it, I let out a huge sneeze.

Immediately the door flung open, and the Queen stood in front of me glaring.

"Arizona." She said tightly, "Were you eavesdropping?"

"No Ma'am… I just happened to come right now. I didn't realise you were here." I lied.

The Queen narrowed her eyes at me, "… Next time Arizona, please avoid wandering around this wing unless with permission."

"Yes your majesty… I'm terribly sorry." I said meekly.

The Queen must have been quite distracted because anyone with half a brain would have known I was lying.

"Very well then' she replied gesturing for me to come inside the room, 'What is it that you came here for?"

I glanced around me, the hooded figure had all but disappeared. I frowned, where could he have possibly gone? There were no windows present. He must've crept out whilst I was talking- or lying- to the Queen. I looked up at her; she still had traces of annoyance on her face, nevertheless I had to present my case, or else, I would never get the chance; my mother could be in danger for all I knew, and every minute counted.

"My mother's missing." I exclaimed.

The Queen's eyebrows rose slowly, "What exactly do you mean missing, Arizona?"

"I haven't seen her in over 2 days and I found her ring discarded in the forest."

The Queen looked at me sharply, "Why were you in the forest?"

"I….uh… well," I scrambled to think of something quickly, "…I was searching for my mother ma'am."

"You thought that she would be in the forest?"

"She usually goes there ma'am… It was natural to assume that she would be in the forest."

The Queen nodded slowly, seeming accepting my explanation and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, Arizona… shall I send out guards to search the kingdom?"

"… I don't think she is in the kingdom ma'am… I believe she is somewhere else."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What makes you think that Arizona? I'm pretty sure she is in Nefura."

"Ma'am, if my mother was in Nefura, she would've found a way to contact me. The fact that she hasn't as yet, furthermore proves that she isn't in this kingdom."

The Queen sighed, giving me the impression that this conversation was boring her in some way.

"Where do you think she is then Arizona? Wixur?"

I shook my head, "I don't know Ma'am but I'm going to go and find her."

The Queen suddenly seemed be on full alert, "You will do no such thing!"

"Pardon me ma'am?"

The Queen glared at me, "I said that you will not go searching for your mother. You are far too young- and impulsive, if I might add!"

The Queen had got to be kidding. Impulsive. I groaned.

"… What am I supposed to do then your Majesty?"

The Queen folded her hands on top of each other delicately, "you will wait for a few more days. If she hasn't returned by then, I will dispatch some soldiers to search for her."

I stared at the Queen dumbfounded. "Are you serious? Ma'am, she might be in grave danger! You can't possibly expect me to wait any longer, when my mother may very well be breathing her last breaths!"

"If she is breathing her last breaths, then there is absolutely no need to go find her then for she will be dead by the time you find her." The Queen replied icily.

"Excuse me, your majesty?" I whispered.

The Queen blushed slightly for a second, realising what she just said, "You are not going, Arizona. It is far too dangerous."

She started to turn when I grasped her arm and turned her around.

"Ma'am! She's my mother! I'm going to find her!"

"No you are not Arizona! Do you think your mother would've wanted you to risk your life? Definitely not!"

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. "Ma'am… you are in no way my mother, so please, don't act like you know what she would do under the circumstances." I whispered coldly.

The Queen seemed slightly taken aback- and maybe a bit hurt, but I didn't care. She had hurt me immensely with her cutting words and her nonchalance in regards to my mother's safety.

She didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, seemingly weighing her words. Finally she looked up at me with defeated eyes, "Very well then Arizona … I will give permission for you to find your…" she paused, "… mother."

I stared back at her coldly; she wasn't going to earn my forgiveness that quickly. "What made you change your mind ma'am?"

The Queen gave a short, humourless laugh, "You would've gone anyway, Arizona. I wouldn't have been able to stop you."

I nodded, "… Then I shall leave." I bowed slightly, and then turned to leave.

"Arizona! Wait."

I turned slightly, what did she want now?

The Queen glided up to me, "I don't want you to go by yourself, instead, I want you to take five soldiers to accompany you."

I nodded, "Yes, your majesty."

The Queen continued, "I also want someone else to go with you…"

I waited for her to continue; instead the Queen gave a small smile. "Arizona, I'm sure you've been acquainted with Prince Marcus."

With those words as an introduction, Prince Marcus strolled into the room.

My jaw went slack, "NO" I cried, "Absolutely not! I am absolutely not going to go with him!"

The Queen look surprised, "What in Nefura is the matter Arizona? Prince Marcus is a valiant warrior!"

I felt a teeny bit of my anger fade for a brief moment in time, "He's a … warrior?"

"Of course he is!" the Queen replied, "If it wasn't for his duty as a royal, he would most likely be the head of the Nefurite Army!"

I glanced at Prince Marcus; I should've known his drool-worthy muscles came from somewhere.

I glanced back at the Queen, "I'm sorry… I can't possibly go with him."

The Queen looked perplexed, "Why Arizona? I do not understand… did something happen between you two?"

I shook my head rapidly, "NO! Definitely not, your majesty… I just… you see…" I waved my hands around trying to find the right words, "Ma'am… I'm just… I'm worried for his safety!"

The Queen raised her brows dubiously, "His safety?"

"Yes your majesty, Princess Akira would be devastated if something should happen to Prince Marcus."

Marcus snorted, and I clenched my jaw, choosing to ignore his 'un-royal like' snort. As of yet I had only glanced at him once, and I aimed to maintain that.

The Queen laughed, "Oh my Darling Arizona, Prince Marcus is more than able to care for himself, and everyone around him! You have no need to worry!"

I shook my head desperately, "No your majesty, you don't underst-"

The Queen looked at me sternly, "Arizona. If you want to go, you are going to have to take Marcus along, or else, you shall not go."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "But your majesty… you said that you couldn't stop me, even if you wanted to…"

She raised an eyebrow, "Darling, I will tie you to a chair and lock you in the smallest room in one of our most deserted wings."

I glanced at her, "Please your majesty,' I implored, 'do not make me go with him…"

The Queen stared at me, "Arizona… what in Nefura is wrong with Marcus?"

I didn't reply. The Queen after waiting a couple of minutes, exhaled loudly and said, "Very well then. If there's nothing wrong, I see no problem. You both shall leave tomorrow at the break of dawn." She began to leave, when she turned back, "… Oh and… tell no one. Not even Akira." She looked at Prince Marcus as she said that, and then left, leaving Marcus and I to stare at her disappearing back.

As soon as the Queen left, Marcus turned to me, "… So we're on a mission together…"

I spun around and faced him, "I bet you set this up didn't you?"

Marcus opened his mouth in mock shock and pointed at himself, "Me?"

"No. Princess Akira… Of course it's you! Can you see anyone else!"

Marcus raised both his palms in a gesture of surrender, "Relax… No, I didn't set this up. Why would I? in fact, I don't even know what mission I'm going on…"

I glared at him, "My Mother's missing. We're going to find her."

Marcus looked at me, his face softening, "Oh… I didn't know… are you all right?"

I rolled my eyes, and turned away. "Please, I don't need sympathy from someone high and mighty like you."

Prince Marcus sighed in frustration, "Fine. Don't accept it."

"I won't." I replied coldly.

Marcus didn't say anything after that, but quietly left and after a while, I too left the Queens wing.

I decided to go to the forest, my mood was quite down after the encounter with Marcus and I knew that if I stayed home, it would only get worse; seeing the quiet house, deprived of my mother's presence was not going to help at all.

The sun was beginning to set as I made my way through the forest, and it was significantly darker under the canopy of leaves.

I heard Raquel before I saw her, "…No, that's not wha- CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME… thank you… now back-"  
>She paused when she saw me approach her. Reece was standing in front of her, his back facing towards me but turned to see what Raquel was looking at.<p>

"Ah! Trevor; a pleasant surprise as always!"

I smirked, "Shame, the same can't be said about you."

"Ouch…" Reece rubbed the place above his heart as if I had physically hurt him.

I rolled my eyes and came towards them, ignoring the fact that Raquel still hadn't said anything to me.

"Someone's in a pissy mood…"

Raquel looked at me curiously, "Find your mother yet?"

Reece stared at Raquel confused, "… find her mother? What do you mean? Is your mother lost?"

I nodded slowly, "She's not lost as such…I think she's been abducted." I turned to Raquel, "And no, I haven't found her yet."

Raquel squirmed awkwardly, "… That's too bad… so…what are you going to do about it?"

I sighed, "I 'm going to find her. Prince Marcus and I, along with some soldiers, are going to find her."

Reece gave a low whistle, "The warrior babe finally puts her art into practice…"

I glanced up, "If only the circumstances didn't require it. It's not a nice thing knowing that your 'art' is only being put into practice because you're trying to find your mother…"

I saw Reece's face soften slightly, "Hey… you'll find her. Don't worry…" he said softly.

I nodded and swallowed hard, willing myself not to cry.

Reece coughed, and the moment was broken. He cleared his throat and said, "So… can we come?"

"WHAT?" Raquel and I said in unison.

"Of course not!" I cried,

"I don't recall myself giving any hint of me wanting to go on a mission to find her mother!" That came from Raquel.

Reece shrugged, "It would be fun, and I'm sure we would be a great benefit for you. Besides," He turned to Raquel, "you didn't have to drop hints, I knew that you wanted to go even before the thought appeared in your head."

Raquel eyebrows shot up, "Oh really? … Is that even possible Reece?"

Reece shrugged again, "Oh ye with little faith…"

I rubbed my face wearily, "Reece. You can't come. This isn't something that we're doing for fun… We're searching for my mother… and who knows," I swallowed around the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat, "… she might be in grave danger."

Reece nodded at me, "and …?"

I looked up at him, "What do you mean 'and'? It's _dangerous_ Reece! You might get hurt!"

Reece looked momentarily shocked for a second, and then burst into fits of laughter. Even Raquel smirked.

"What?" I enquired weakly, not too sure if I genuinely wanted to know.

Reece after managing to stop laughing managed to say in between spells of giggles, "Trevor, your naivety never fails to astound me. _We_,' he gestured exaggeratedly to him and Raquel, 'are _Wixurite's_, we are significantly more wicked and stronger then you pussy Nefurite's- no offence, it's a fact, seriously, look up the statistics- and you're honestly worrying about if we would get hurt? You should be worrying about yourself, chic."

I looked down at my feet, when he put it that way; I released how stupid I sounded. I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. Reece seemed to notice for he came closer and said in a gentle voice, "Hey, it was still pretty sweet of you to worry about our safety…"

I looked up reluctantly, still bearing the aftermath of my embarrassment, and stifled a small gasp as I realised how close he actually was. Reece towered over me, and I couldn't help but rake my eyes over his broad shoulders that began the series of strong muscles that rippled across his arms. My eyes travelled down to his flat stomach and I had a sudden longing to place my hands on them and feel how hard they actually were.

I swallowed and glanced up, my face burning in embarrassment – although for a completely different reason- and found his eyes, perfect drops of black ink, staring at me with intensity I never expected.

"In love with me already, Trevor?" he asked, his normally rich, deep voice becoming so soft that it nearly mingled with the air around us.

I snapped out of my wayward thoughts, and staggered a couple of steps back. Reece continued looking at me for a moment, and then smirked, reverting back to his usual cheeky self.

I tore my gaze away for Reece, and turned to find Raquel staring at us with an expression that was a mix between curiosity and disgust.

"What just happened?"


End file.
